Cotswold Airport which was formerly known as Kemble Airfield was constructed in 1936 as an RAF base, it became operational in June 1938. In 1940, Number 4 Service Ferry Pool moved to the Kemble from Cardiff, and Kemble became one of the main bases for the aircraft ferrying operations of the Air Transport Auxiliary in this part of the British Isles. Around the same time Kemble was also the home of Number 1 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit (OAPU).
Between 1966 and 1983 Kemble was home to the Red Arrows which operated Folland Gnats and BAe Hawks, the Red Arrows moved to RAF Scampton in 1983. After the Red Arrows moved the airfield was used by the US Air Force as a maintenance facility initially for A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, followed by Northrop F-5s, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles, Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers.
After the Cold War the US Air Force left Kemble Airfield and it was then returned to the MOD, the British Army used the airfield the store surplus vehicles and equipment with military flights ending in 1993.
For a time the MOD leased buildings on the airfield before the MOD sold the site to local businessman Ronan Harvey in March 2001 who remains the owner to this day with the airfield run by his daughter Susannah Harvey. The airfield was renamed to Cotswold Airport in 2009. The airport has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P863), which allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Kemble Air Services Limited). The airport has a tarmac runway which accommodates large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 as well as a grass runway used by light aircraft.
In October 2020 Cotswold Airport announced it was to preserve British Airways Boeing 747-400 G-CIVB, in a retro Negus livery, the aircraft will be used as an events location, conference site and educational airframe.
Find out more about the airport at the Cotswold Airport website.