The airport is open to the general public and is also popular for walks around its perimeter and to see the wildlife in Yateley Common and Castle Bottom National Nature reserve.

A number of important people landed at the airport including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery.

RAF Hartfordbridge was also the home of a new system known as "FIDO" (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) built by the Airforce Construction Unit.

Over the next few years, airlines such as Britavia, Westminster Airways, Airwork, and Silver City all moved in operating Lancastrians (passenger aircraft derived from Lancaster bombers), DC-3s, and Bristol Freighters.

The 1950s saw further expansion, Air Contractors started a scheduled service to the Channel Islands, and Eagle Aviation launched several routes to Europe on DC-3s and Viking airliners.

Overseas-based charter airlines often used Blackbushe for their flight to the UK, normally finding that the airfield was open for operations, even when other airports in the London area were closed by fog.

Blackbushe was used as a major location for the 1956 film The Crooked Sky in which the former RAF station buildings and then current commercial aircraft are seen.

From the early 1950s, the United States Navy (USN) had a facility on the north-east edge of the airport which frequently handled visiting naval aircraft.

In 1955, USN UK-based communications and liaison aircraft of FASRON 200, previously attached to RAF Hendon, in north London, were switched to Blackbushe.

The vice-chairman of the committee, Lord Porchester, said that the Ministry of Aviation was not supporting AVM Bennett in his attempt to re-open Blackbushe for private flying.

The reported reasons for the committee's decision were that most of the land was to be an open space, so that the proposal would be detrimental to the amenities of Yateley village, and it would interfere with safety and traffic flow on the Basingstoke - London A30 trunk road.

The airport became a base for a large collection of historic World War II aircraft, including four Junkers Ju 52s, six Douglas DC-3s and a number of smaller planes, such as Spitfires, which were rarely seen on the tarmac.

Bob Dylan headlined, with Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Lake, and Merger also appearing.

In 2008, the newly formed Blink launched their European air-taxi service from Blackbushe to over 600 destinations using a fleet of Cessna Citation Mustang aircraft.

The new owners plan to invest in the refurbishments of the airport and bring the facilities up to 21st century standards, including building new hangars to replace the space lost on the north side.

[11] Hampshire County Council subsequently sought a Judicial Review of the Inspector's decision which was held at the Royal Courts of Justice on 11–12 February 2020.

In November 2023, a Planning Inspector issued a decision[14] confirming the footprint of the Terminal Building and part of the airport cafe to be removed from the register of common land, but no curtilage.