A site to the east of RAF Fairlop called "Hainault Farm" was used during the First World War, and saw service as a Royal Air Force Home Defence Flight Station.

[2] In 1919, Sergeant Russe J. Cound was killed and Captain Starbuck seriously injured when their plane stalled and crashed from a height of 200 feet.

[3] A small flying club used another nearby site between the wars and there were plans to build a commercial airport in the Fairlop area for London,[4] but those plans were later abandoned due to the realization that smog and haze from the residential and industrial areas nearby would be a hazard to operations.

The airfield at Fairlop was built in late 1940 when three concrete runways in an "A" pattern tilted 45 degrees anti-clockwise were constructed.

In November 2013 a sculpture was unveiled commemorating those who served at the Fairlop and Hainault airfields in wartime.