As many as 70 jobs have been axed after the struggling Coventry Airport shut down ahead of a winding-up petition which is still due in the court. Since the last passenger flight stopped operating to the destination over a year ago, the West Midlands airport had only been handling cargo.

In the High Court, the airport site's owner currently faces a winding-up petition from HM Revenue and Customs.

Ever since Thomsonfly stopped operations back in November 2008, the Coventry Airport has not been used for passenger flights, and has since then been used as a cargo terminal and a base for executive jets and aviation-related business.

As confirmed by the Civil Aviation Authority, West Midlands Airport Ltd, the airport's owner had issued a notice to airmen informing them of the shut down. "The board and shareholders of West Midlands International Airport Limited have made the decision to close Coventry Airport with immediate effect. We moved because we got a better deal and we were more comfortable with the management at Birmingham" said a Coventry Airport spokesperson.

The airport was inaugurated in 1936 and was used as an RAF base during WWII.