[citation needed] In 1931, work started on a proper airport to service Rennes, and a plot of 380,000 square metres in Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande to the southwest of the city was acquired and building began.

[citation needed] Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France, Rennes airport was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation.

[4] Rennes was attacked by Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress bombers on 9 January 1944 (Mission 180), and was overflown on several night leaflet drops during the spring of 1944.

The combat units moved out by the end of September, and Rennes Airport was used as a supply and maintenance depot for American aircraft for several months, before being returned to French civil control on 30 November 1944.

A controversial long-time project to build a large airport near Nantes, the Aéroport du Grand Ouest, some 80 km to the south of Rennes is still in an uncertain state.

[citation needed] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Media related to Rennes – Saint-Jacques Airport at Wikimedia Commons