Birmingham Airport, formerly Birmingham International Airport, is an international airport located 7 nautical miles east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, 9.5 nautical miles west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England. Officially opened as Elmdon Airport on 8 July 1939, the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry during the Second World War and used by both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy as RAF Elmdon.