Departure location’s pretentiousness before journey (8)
I believe the answer is:
airstrip
'departure location's pretentiousness before journey' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'pretentiousness before journey' is the wordplay.
'pretentiousness' becomes 'airs' (I've seen this in another clue).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'journey' becomes 'trip' (trip is a kind of journey).
'airs'+'trip'='AIRSTRIP'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for airstrip that I've seen before include "Small landing-place" , "Simple runway" , "Rough landing area" , "for those taking flight?" , "Small runway" .)