While 2025 has brought a number of airline failures as smaller carriers struggle to compete for passengers and the rising cost of operations, closing an entire airport is a more drastic step that usually comes amid a major shift in demand or redevelopment in a given area.
In Belgium, calls to permanently close Antwerp International (DNR) known locally as Duerne have increased in recent months as it is largely unused by all but charter airlines due to the proximity of the larger Brussels Airport (BRU) just an hour’s train journey away.
After posting a net loss of €2.3 million in the last two years, Duerne has been generating headlines for being “bankrupt in everything but name”.
Across the English Channel in Great Britain, Coventry Airport (CVT) in the West Midlands is actually closing in June 2026 as the local city council prepares for the construction of a technology and energy “gigafactory”.
First opened in 1936 as Baginton Aerodome and used as a base for the UK Royal Air Force base during World War II, the airport was closed to commercial passenger flights in 2008 due to its small size and proximity to the larger Birmingham Airport (BMX).
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Over the next 16 years, it was used primarily by charter airlines as well as various cargo services, flight training and medical transport.
“Coventry Aerodrome has given us formal notice of its plan to close the airport permanently with effect from 11 June 2026,” a CAA spokesperson confirmed in a statement.
Rigby Group, the development company that has owned Coventry Airport since 2009 and also won the contract for the construction of the electricity factory in 2021, also said that the closure “allows the next phase of infrastructure work for the site to proceed.”
According to reporting by the BBC, companies that lease hangar space have received letters informing them of the need to vacate the airport in June. The only local site that will remain untouched is the Midlands Air Museum on the history of aviation in the region.
Despite not being used for passenger flights for nearly two decades, Coventry Airport holds an important place in the history of aviation in the area. Pope John Paul II arrived at the airport in 1982 for a WWII commemoration while it was also used for the Kings Cup Air Race and by the British Royal Family on their visits to Coventry.