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# Croydon Airport

Croydon was London's principal international airport from 1920 until the rise of Heathrow and one of the defining airports of early commercial aviation.

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## History

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### London's main airport from 1920

Croydon opened as London Terminal Aerodrome on 29 March 1920 after commercial operations moved from [Hounslow Heath](page:64096). It became Britain's principal international airport and the base of Imperial Airways, an ancestor of British Airways.

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### Mayday was coined here

In 1923 Croydon radio officer Frederick Stanley Mockford proposed the distress call **Mayday**, derived from the French *m'aider*, for use between Croydon and Le Bourget.

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### Air traffic control developed here

Croydon was a pioneer of organised air traffic control, radio navigation and international airline operations during the 1920s and 1930s.

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### Heathrow made Croydon obsolete

After the Second World War, larger aircraft and the need for longer runways favoured [Heathrow](page:532). Croydon finally closed in 1959.

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## Legacy

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### Airport House survives

The former terminal complex survives as Airport House, preserving one of the clearest physical reminders of London's pre-Heathrow aviation era. See [Historic Croydon Airport](https://www.historiccroydonairport.org.uk/history/).

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## Links here

- [History of London's airports](page:62999)
- [Hounslow Heath Aerodrome](page:64096)