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Cotswold Airport, formerly RAF Kemble, is a private general aviation airport near the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire, five miles southwest of Cirencester. It boasts the longest private runway in the UK and a long RAF pedigree, having once been home to the Red Arrows aerobatic team, and today mixes business aviation, aircraft maintenance and storage, flying training and historic aircraft displays.
Cotswold Airport, known for most of its life as RAF Kemble and later Kemble Airport, sits near the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire. It is operated by Kemble Air Services Limited under a CAA Ordinary Licence and is owned by Ronan Harvey, who bought the former RAF station from the Ministry of Defence in 2001. For a sim pilot it is notable both for its unusually long hard runway, said to be the longest private runway in the UK, and for the parked and stored airliners, including a Boeing 747 and a former Red Arrows Gnat, that give the field a distinctive look from the air.
The airport lies clear of controlled airspace, which allows relatively free movement for training and general aviation traffic in the local area. It is centrally positioned between Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon, about five miles (8 kilometres) southwest of Cirencester, near the village of Kemble. Aston Down airfield, home to the Cotswold Gliding Club, lies about three miles to the northwest.
Cotswold Airport has two parallel physical runways. The main runway, 08/26, is a hard-surfaced strip lit for night use, 5904 feet long on runway 08 and 5858 feet on runway 26. Alongside it runs a second, shorter grass runway pair, 08L/26R, each direction 1834 feet long and also lit. There is no ILS approach.
Cotswold Airport provides an AFIS service on 118.9 MHz, using the callsign INFO.
Construction of the station began in 1936, and the first operational unit, No. 5 Maintenance Unit, arrived on 22 June 1938. In 1940 No. 4 Service Ferry Pool moved in from Cardiff, making Kemble one of the main regional bases for Air Transport Auxiliary ferrying operations, and it was also home to No. 1 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit. From 1966 until 1983 Kemble was home to the Red Arrows, the RAF's aerobatic display team, who flew Folland Gnats and later BAe Hawks from the station. After the Red Arrows left for RAF Scampton, the United States Air Force used the site as a maintenance facility for A-10 Thunderbolts, Northrop F-5s, F-15 Eagles, C-130 Hercules and KC-135 Stratotankers. The station was returned to the Ministry of Defence on 31 March 1992, with the RAF withdrawing on 31 July 1992, after which the British Army used the site to store surplus vehicles and equipment. The Ministry of Defence sold the airfield to local businessman Ronan Harvey in March 2001. Planning disputes with Cotswold District Council and, later, North Wiltshire District Council over noise complaints threatened flying operations in 2007 and 2008, but in August 2009 the airport was awarded a Certificate of Lawful Use as a commercial airport, securing its future, and it was renamed Cotswold Airport that year.
Cotswold Airport today combines business and general aviation with flying training, aircraft maintenance and aircraft storage and recycling. Resource Group operates an EASA Part 147 approved basic training facility on site, opened in 2010, with around 50 engineering students based there year-round. Chevron Aircraft Maintenance, an EASA Part 145 approved facility, has been based at the airport since January 2004, and Air Salvage International, which describes itself as Europe's leading aircraft decommissioning company, moved its operating base to the airport in late 2009. The airport has been described as Europe's leading airliner recycling location, and retired airliners, including Boeing 747s, are a feature of the airfield seen from the air. A retired British Airways Boeing 747-400, registration G-CIVB and named Negus, was installed in 2022 as a static event space, and a former Red Arrows Gnat is displayed beside the on-site AV8 restaurant and cafe. Flying lessons and aviation experience flights, including flights in a Spitfire, are offered from the airport.
