For many pilots, owning an airfield remains the ultimate aviation dream. Now that dream could become reality, with the former RAF Kirkbride in Cumbria coming onto the market with Estate Agents Savills at a guide price of £1.5 million.
Extending to almost 161 acres, the site offers everything an aviation enthusiast could wish for: a substantial hard runway, taxiways, a hangar, control tower, clubhouse, helipad and an established aviation fuel business. Better still, it is already an active civil aerodrome, providing a rare opportunity to become the custodian of a genuine flying airfield rather than simply a piece of aviation history.
Kirkbride’s story stretches back to 1939, when it opened as RAF Kirkbride, home to No. 12 Maintenance Unit of No. 41 Maintenance Command. During the Second World War, it became a major aircraft repair and maintenance depot. From the summer of 1941 until the autumn of 1945, it was also home to No. 16 Ferry Pilots Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Kirkbride finally closed as an RAF station in 1960.
Today, the former wartime station has entered a new chapter. Alongside flying activities, it hosts motorsport events and a range of commercial enterprises, generating around £60,000 a year. At a guide price of £1.5 million, it isn’t exactly an impulse purchase, but for someone who’s always dreamed of owning their own airfield, it could be the opportunity of a lifetime.
Photo: Savills
