Guernsey entered the world of aviation in World War I when the French established an anti-submarine seaplane base near Castle Cornet. Civil Aviation dates from the 4th of October, 1919 when an Avro 536 prototype seaplane settled on the waves off St Peter Port to discharge one passenger, a Lt Fulford who had hitched a lift from Jersey, the aircraft’s first port of call from Southampton. In 1923, a regular scheduled passenger service was started using a Supermarine Sea Eagle flying boat. Guernsey Airport was officially opened on the 5th of May, 1939 by the Air Minister, Sir Kingsley Wood, who hailed the occasion as the “Dawn of a new age”.​

​

Four months after its grand opening, Guernsey Airport was taken over by RAF Coastal Command but Channel Island Airways continued a limited service, flying DH 86’s. 48 Squadron RAF flew Avro Ansons on anti-submarine patrols and later, an RAF School of General Reconnaissance operated until June 1940. The Island was occupied by German forces from the 30th of June, 1940 until it was liberated on the 9th of May, 1945.