Board of Trade, Civil Aviation Department

Civil aviation in Britain was the responsibility of the Air Ministry until 1945. In that year, responsibility for civil aviation was transferred to a new Ministry of Civil Aviation, before merging with the Ministry of Transport in 1953 to become the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Further re-organisation in 1959 saw the creation of a new Ministry of Aviation.

In late 1966 civil aviation functions were transferred again, this time coming under a new Civil Aviation Department forming part of the Board of Trade. In 1970 the successor to the Board of Trade, the Department of Trade and Industry, retained responsibility for civil aviation until 1972. The successor to the Civil Aviation Department is the Civil Aviation Authority, created in 1972.