Swansea, Welsh: Abertawe, "mouth of the Tawe, is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands. Swansea had a population of 169,880 in 2001 and is the second most populous city in Wales after Cardiff and the third most populous county in Wales after Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf. During its 19th century industrial heyday, Swansea was one of the key centres of the world copper industry, earning the nickname 'Copperopolis'
Swansea Airport (IATA: SWS, ICAO: EGFH) is an airport located at Fairwood Common on the Gower Peninsula to the west of Swansea, Wales.
Swansea Airport was built on what was originally common land during World War II. The aerodrome was opened on 15 June 1941 as RAF Fairwood Common, after taking nearly a year to develop. It was originally built to be a fighter station. The airport became a sector station within months of opening, taking on the responsibility of the air defence for the whole of South Wales.
Access to the airport is adequate for the facilities it offers. It can be reached via the A4118 road, running through the Gower Peninsula. Overall it is quite distant from any major roads, taking around 20 minutes to reach from the nearest M4 junction, travelling on mainly suburban roads.
The fire brigade at Swansea is CAT 1, but believed to be able to do CAT 2 on request. The airport uses a small Dodge RIV.
