B-24 Liberator, as operated by 120 Sqn from Nutts Corner

BEA Viscount

RAF Nutts Corner was a Royal Air Force station in County Antrim near Belfast. It was originally a civil airfield, then a military base and subsequently Northern Ireland's main civil airport until the 1960s.

During World War II it was an important Coastal Command station and was also used as a transport hub for aircraft arriving from the United States. No. 120 Squadron operated B-24 Liberator maritime patrol bombers from the base from 1941.

Civil operations

Northern Ireland civil flights began around 1920 from Aldergrove, what is now Belfast International Airport, approximately 10km away from Nutts Corner. The province's first London service began from Nutts Corner in 1934.

Civil operations were largely abandoned at both Nutts Corner and RAF Aldergrove during the Second World War.

In 1946 civil air operations were transferred from Belfast Harbour Airport (now Belfast City Airport) to Nutts Corner due to the longer runways available at that airfield. Other reasons included the limited space available at Belfast for expansion and the danger associated with the obstacles present around Belfast harbour, for example cranes. Other sites were studied as possible alternative civil airports, for example RAF Long Kesh, Lisburn. The advantage of choosing Nutts Corner was the large amount of existing hardstanding which was necessary for civil aircraft movements.

Nutts Corner was the site of the largest air disaster, to date, in Northern Ireland in 1953. A BEA Vickers Viscount crashed after striking landing lights and then a building at the airfield, killing 27 people.

By the 1960s the comparatively steep approach necessary for aircraft flying to Nutts Corner was deemed unsuitable. This was due to the location of the airport, close to the Belfast mountains and the obstacles located there, particularly transmitters and aerials. Another factor was the fact that of Nutts Corner's three runways, only one was suitable for modern aircraft. Aldergrove's two perpindicular runways made operations possible there even if conditions (particularly wind) changed dramatically. This move was made official in 1963 and in 1969 the present terminal was opened.

Today the Nutts Corner site is largely abandoned, much of the former runways and apron have been disected by a major road.

See also

• List of RAF stations