The airfield was officially opened in November 1942 for
No. 17 Group RAF of
RAF Coastal Command, but was not fully operational until the following year. The airfield had three runways: 04/22 5,100 feet, 17/35 3,780 feet and 10/28 3,600 feet, with connecting perimeter track and dispersal
hard standings. It had two T2
hangars, a technical site and administration blocks. The accommodation blocks and other communal sites were situated just off the
A40 road, in nearby fields.
RAF Coastal Command The first unit to be based at RAF Haverfordwest was
No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF. It disbanded the same day in January 1943 as
No. 7 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF arrived, but this unit was later renamed in May, as No. 4 Refresher Flying Unit. Another unit based at the airfield at the time was the General Reconnaissance Aircraft Preparation Pool. No. 4 RFU was disbanded in September 1944. In January 1945
No. 8 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF moved in to the airfield and stayed until June. The last units to leave Haverfordwest were Nos 20 and 21 Air Crew Holding Units, before the airfield closed in November 1945. The aerodrome saw some redevelopment during the 1970s and 1980s. The
World War II control tower was refurbished into an office. The engineering section was sold and became a number of small businesses. The West Wales Gliding Club was formed and regularly used the airfield. Various
air taxis also continually used the airfield. A local air taxi, Welsh Airways, planned a regular scheduled service between Haverfordwest, Cardiff and London, but lacked the
financial backing. Most of the remaining buildings were occupied by local companies, while the one remaining T2 hangar was used by an agriculture firm and on Sundays as a market. To support
oil and gas exploration activities off the
Welsh coast during 1974 and 1975, Air Swift (Wales), a subsidiary of the Blackbushe air taxi service, ran a service between Haverfordwest, Swansea and Cardiff. The International Air Rally has previously used Haverfordwest. The aerodrome usually has two fly-ins each year, one in May and the second in August, along with the British Precision Pilots Association’s (BPPA) Regional Competition held in June and October. The BPPA Rally is held after the June competition, and the initial event took place on the 9 August 1989. Sixty different aircraft from eighteen separate countries attended it.
Pembrokeshire County Council Dyfed County Council was abolished under the
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, being replaced in April 1996 by a new
Pembrokeshire County Council, covering the area where Haverfordwest is situated, and assuming ownership of the airport. On the 16 February 1996 the
Sea Empress oil spill occurred at the entrance to the
Milford Haven Waterway in
Pembrokeshire,
Wales, spilling over 70,000 tons of North Sea
crude oil. The MPCU organises the UK response to oil spills and policy relies on dispersants. It had six
Douglas DC-3 aircraft, under contract, converted for applying dispersants, with direction given from light aircraft.
Air Atlantique specialised in operating classic aircraft. Its Douglas DC-3 Dakota flew from Haverfordwest Airport over the following two weeks dropping dispersant on the spill, before returning to the Air Atlantique base at Coventry Airport. Redevelopment of the airport continued, in 2000 a new hangar, a small terminal waiting room and a café were constructed. In 2004 a new control tower opened. A review of the same year, 'Aviation in the UK', emphasised a need for a flexible air service in Wales. Cardiff would be the hub and Haverfordwest would be one of the satellite airfields. Two new hangars have been built with parking aprons and a new apron in front of the terminal. One of the original runways has been upgraded, (04/22), which now has a permanent inset lightning system and APAPIS. == See also ==