Future of Nimrod aircraft uncertain, says society
Nimrod Preservation SocietyAn RAF vintage aircraft preservation group said it was looking for another airfield for its Nimrod plane after Coventry Airport announced its closure.
The Nimrod XV232 is a preserved maritime patrol plane which was used during the Falklands War and has been based at the airport, in Baginton, since May 2010.
Operators of Coventry Airport have submitted a formal notice to close it permanently from 11 June 2026, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed.
Kevin Connor, from the Nimrod Preservation Group, said it if could not find another airfield, the aircraft may have to be taken apart and disposed of.
Mr Connor, one of the directors of the group, said he had served in the RAF for 12 years before joining the Army - serving a total of 48 years.
He told the BBC he had a personal connection to the Nimrod as the plane had arrived at his first posting station at RAF St Mawgan, Cornwall, in 1969.
Mr Connor said: "The news of the closure has been in the pipeline for a number of years now.
"We were warned, but it's been dragging on for the last at least three or four years [and] it became one of those things that felt a bit unrealistic."
Operators The Rigby Group said the stopping of runway operations at Coventry Airport would enable the next phase of building work to begin for Greenpower Park - the location of a proposed battery gigafactory.
Mr Connor said: "I felt very disappointed when I heard the news. We feel that the fact that there are small airfields like Coventry closing down is limiting places where flying schools could be."
Coventry Aeroplane Club and the Midlands Air Museum will be among the aviation groups impacted by the closure.
Mr Connor said: "We've got three options, they're all open. One is to find another airfield , take [the Nimrod] apart and move it by road to wherever it goes.
"Two is for the civil aviation authority to give us a one-flight move to another airfield.
"And if both of those options fail, [the third] would be to cut it up and get rid of it."
The group said it was hoping to receive an extension on the deadline to move the airliner.
Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
