Bournemouth Airport

About Bournemouth Airport

Bournemouth Airport (IATA: BOH, ICAO: EGHH) is the commercial airport for Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and the surrounding part of Dorset. It stands on the edge of the village of Hurn, about 4 miles (6 km) north-north-east of Bournemouth town centre, and is close to the A338 and the A31. Most passengers are leisure travellers, and the airport also handles business aviation and cargo.

Traffic has risen sharply in recent years. According to UK Civil Aviation Authority figures, the airport handled 1,380,450 terminal passengers in 2025, an increase of almost 27 per cent on 2024 and comfortably above its previous best year, 2007, when it handled just over 1.08 million.

The airport is operated by Regional & City Airports (RCA), which also runs Exeter and Norwich airports and the XLR Executive Jet Centres business aviation brand. RCA was part of Rigby Group for 12 years before investment firm ICG acquired it in 2025. Bournemouth has a single runway, 08/26, which is 2,272 metres long with a concrete and asphalt surface.

How to get to Bournemouth Airport

By road

The airport is signposted from the A338 between Ringwood and Bournemouth. Shortly after Ringwood, drivers heading south on the A338 continue for about five miles and then take the B3073 exit, following signs to the airport. From London and the M3 corridor, the usual route is the M3 to the M27 westbound, which becomes the A31 across the New Forest towards Ringwood. From the south-west, the A35 to Wimborne connects with the A31, where the airport is signposted.

Official car parks are available on site and can be booked in advance online. Disabled drop-off and parking spaces are in Car Park 1. PRC Streamline is the official taxi and private hire firm, with desks in the arrivals area. At the time of writing there are no car rental companies at the airport.

By bus and coach

Local bus services are run by morebus from a stop outside the terminal. Both routes run Monday to Friday only and do not operate on public holidays:

• 737: to Bournemouth railway station, serving Parley Cross, Northbourne, Westover Retail Park and Winton.
• YX1: to Poole bus station, via Parley Cross, Canford Heath, Broadstone, Creekmoor, Upton and Hamworthy.

By train

There is no railway station at the airport. Bournemouth station is the nearest main line connection, with trains to Southampton, London and other destinations on the national network, and the 737 bus links it with the terminal on weekdays.

By bicycle

Free bicycle parking is provided in a shelter outside the departures terminal in Car Park 2, and Beryl bikes and e-scooters can be hired at the airport.

Terminal and facilities

Bournemouth Airport has one passenger terminal. Services listed by the airport include:

• Fast Track Security, a paid express lane through security.
• Free Wi-Fi throughout the terminal, using the network called BOH Passenger Wifi.
• Food and drink: Airport Pantry, a coffee shop and bar; Bourne & Acre, a bar and kitchen; and Café Bar after security.
• Shopping: WHSmith and World Duty Free, which offers a Reserve & Collect service for departing passengers.
• Special assistance: trained staff can help from arrival at the airport to the aircraft, with free wheelchairs subject to availability and portable hearing loops. Assistance should be arranged with the airline at least 48 hours before travel. The airport does not run its own hidden disability scheme, but staff are trained to recognise common lanyards and cards.

Airlines and destinations

Bournemouth is mainly a leisure airport. The busiest routes serve Spain, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, with city break routes to places such as Kraków, Prague and Vienna. There are also flights to Malta and Morocco and a domestic link to Edinburgh.

The airlines operating in 2026 are:

• Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, which have a base at the airport and fly to a wide range of holiday and city destinations.
• Ryanair, with year-round and seasonal routes across Europe.
• TUI, offering package holiday flights, including winter sun routes to the Canary Islands.
• easyJet, which operates a winter route to Geneva.

Tour operators including Crystal Ski, Transun and Santa's Lapland also run seasonal ski and Lapland charter flights.

History

The airfield opened in 1941 as RAF Hurn. During the Second World War it was used by the RAF and the United States Army Air Forces, and it supported bombers and fighter-bombers during the D-Day invasion. After being handed back to the RAF in October 1944, the site passed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. For a short period after the war Hurn was Britain's main international airport, and BOAC used it as a principal base until Heathrow was ready.

In 1969 Bournemouth Corporation and Dorset County Council bought the airport jointly and renamed it Bournemouth Hurn Airport. It was sold to National Express in 1995 and to Manchester Airports Group in 2001, which carried out a large redevelopment of the terminal that was completed at the start of the 2010s. Regional & City Airports, then owned by Rigby Group, bought the airport in December 2017, and ICG acquired RCA in 2025.