Andorra Airport - La Seu d'Urgell

Aeroport Andorra - La Seu d'Urgell
Characteristics
ICAO code	LESU
IATA code	LEU
Coordinates	42 ° 20 '24 " N , 1 ° 24' 35" E Coordinates: 42 ° 20 '24 " N , 1 ° 24' 35" E
Transport links
Distance from the city center	25 km south of ; Andorra la Vella
Street	N-260
Basic data
opening	1982
operator	Aeroports Públics de Catalunya
Terminals	1
Start-and runway
03/21	1500 m of asphalt

Andorra Airport - La Seu d'Urgell , (official name: Aeroport Andorra - La Seu d'Urgell ) is a general aviation airport owned by the Government of Catalonia ( Generalitat de Catalunya ). The operator is Aeroports Públics de Catalunya (SLU).

The airport is located in Catalonia, southwest of the city of La Seu d'Urgell, twelve kilometers south of the Andorra border on Mount Ensiula between the towns of Montferrer i Castellbò and Ribera d'Urgellet in the comarca of Alt Urgell .

history

The beginnings of aviation on Mount Ensiula go back to 1931. Jaume Nadal i Maimó bought an aircraft from the French manufacturer Henri Farman with a Hispano-Suiza engine and founded an airline with scheduled flights Barcelona-Andorra. At that time, the airfield still had an unpaved runway . In 1932 a hangar and a terminal were built. After Jaume Nadal's death, operations were discontinued because the heirs did not want to continue financing the airline.

In 1975 the aviation enthusiast and industrialist Josep Betriu i Tàpies took over the airfield and expanded it with the help of the Desarrollo del Alto Urgel SA bank . Runway 04/22 received the first solid surface over a length of around 1300 meters. In 1980 the construction work was completed and the airport was ready for operation. Commissioning was delayed due to the approval process. In 1982 the opening took place with a flight of the airline Aviaco to Barcelona-El Prat airport . Although Aviaco had planned further lines to Madrid and also to France, the liner service had to be discontinued due to the lack of profitability. In 1984 commercial traffic was given up and the airfield was only used by private aircraft. In 2007 the airfield on the hill was completely closed for safety reasons. In 2008 the airfield was acquired by the Catalan government. In 2009 a construction contract was awarded for the renovation work. Flight operations were resumed on June 4, 2010 after the renovation.

In October 2011, test flights with the newly developed turboprop regional airliner ATR 72-600 by the manufacturer Avions de Transport Régional took place at the airfield.

On June 27, 2012, the government agencies involved decided to further expand flight operations and the airport's infrastructure and to increase tourism and economic development in the mountain region.

In February 2014, the government agencies signed a contract for the commercial use of the airfield. The first commercial flights were carried out in July 2015, charter flights with an ATR 72-500 from Swiftair and Air Andorra announced that they would use the airport for scheduled flights from April 2016.

Currently (as of August 2018) there are no scheduled flights.