Castellón Airport

Aeropuerto de Castellón-Costa Azahar
Characteristics
ICAO code	LECH
IATA code	CDT
Coordinates	40 ° 12 ′ 35 "  N , 0 ° 4 ′ 11"  E Coordinates: 40 ° 12 ′ 35 "  N , 0 ° 4 ′ 11"  E
Height above MSL	350 m (1148  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	40 km northeast of Castellón de la Plana
Street	CV-10 (Autovía de la Plana)
Basic data
opening	December 10, 2014
operator	Edeis
surface	542.3 ha
Terminals	1
Passengers	none (2012)
Air freight	none (2012)
Flight movements	none (2012)
Start-and runway
06/24	2700 m × 45 m asphalt

Sculpture “El hombre avión”, on the right in the background the airport terminal

Aeropuerto de Castellón-Costa Azahar (España)

The Castellón-Costa Azahar Airport ( IATA : CDT , ICAO : LECH , . Span Aeropuerto de Castellón Costa Azahar and Valencian Aeroport de Castelló ) is a newly built international commercial airport in the Spanish province of Castellon , Valencia region in the east of the Iberian Peninsula . The airport is 40 km northeast of Castellón de la Plana near Villanueva de Alcolea (Valencian: Vilanova d'Alcolea) and Benlloch.

Although it was officially inaugurated on March 25, 2011, it has not been able to start flight operations for a number of years because not only the permits from the authorities were not yet available, but the Valencia region was also heavily indebted. It was certified on December 10, 2014 and opened for flight operations on the same day.

Castellón Airport is not to be confused with the smaller Aeródromo Castellón (LECN) east of the city center of Castellón, directly on the Mediterranean coast in Grao de Castellón.

Planning and construction

The airport was planned from 1997 and built since 2004. The construction costs amounted to € 150 million up to 2011.

business

Installation

The regional government has agreed with the operating company that the losses of the first eight years of operation will be borne by the public budget. The contract with the operating company runs for 50 years. The state authorities require the runway to be widened in places as a prerequisite for issuing the operating license (as of May 2012). The last known date for the start of operations in April 2012 could not be met. The first measurement flights by the state airport authority AENA took place in February 2013. In the meantime, operations have been transferred to the company SNC Lavalin , who started flight operations at the end of 2014. As part of the sale of the French airport activities of SNC Lavelin, the airport has been operated by the French company Edeis since the beginning of 2017.

Regular operation

The first commercial flight took place on 14 January 2015 it was a charter flight of a CRJ900 of Air Nostrum for the local football club FC Villarreal for Cup final in San Sebastian. In March 2015, Ryanair announced regular flights from September 2015 between Castellón and Bristol and London-Stansted ; the first flight arrived from London on September 15th. On October 1, 2015, the Romanian Blue Air announced its new connection Bucharest - Castellón from summer 2016. A little later, Ryanair and Wizz Air were added, which served Castellón from Eastern European destinations. Airbus carried out some flight tests with an A350 here on March 11, 2016 .

Aircraft graveyard

For some years now, Castellón Airport has also served as an aircraft graveyard , where aircraft are parked during temporary shutdowns or are cannibalized and recycled.

criticism

Aeropuerto de Castellón-Costa Azahar

The practically completed airport, which has not been in operation for years, is a prime example of a superfluous major investment. It was supposed to bring tourists to the province of Castellón, which until now was the only coastal province on the Mediterranean Sea that did not have its own airport. However, the distance to the two nearest airports, Reus and Valencia, is only around one to one and a half hours' drive. The construction was justified with planned investments in the region in a theme park, a large number of guest beds and several golf courses, which were only partially realized. Due to the severe economic crisis in Spain, there is currently little prospect of these projects being realized.

See also

A similar fate befell Ciudad Real Airport , which ceased operations three years after it opened.

Web links

• Website Aeropuerto de Castellón-Costa Azahar
• The Colossus of Castellón FAZ Online, July 25, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Colossus of Castellón, FAZ Online, July 25, 2012
2. ↑ ^{a b} El Mundo, March 25, 2011, Castellón inaugura su aeropuerto con 150 millones de inversión pero sin vuelos
3. ↑ El País, March 25, 2011, Camps y Fabra inauguran el aeropuerto de Castellón sin aviones
4. ^ El País , March 17, 2011, La gestión del aeropuerto de Castellón costará cerca de 56 millones , accessed May 29, 2012
5. ↑ El País , February 14, 2012, Airstrip at Castellón's plane-free airport needs to be widened , accessed May 29, 2012
6. ^ ^{A b} Pacific Standard Spain's Vacant Airport Typifies European Woes , accessed May 29, 2012
7. ↑ ABC.ES of February 18, 2013: El aeropuerto de Castellón alberga su primer vuelo en pruebas accessed on February 21, 2013
8. ↑ El Periodico Mediterraneo of December 10, 2014: "OK para el aeropuerto", accessed on December 11, 2014
9. ↑ Edeis reprend l'ensemble des actifs français de SNC-Lavalin , accessed on February 27, 2017.
10. ↑ Ryanair breathes life into Castellon , accessed on March 18, 2015
11. ↑ El aeropuerto de Castellón recibe su primer vuelo regular tras cuatro años y medio, ABC, September 15, 2015
12. ↑ Blue Air, notification of October 1, 2015 about new connections from summer 2016 , accessed on January 24, 2016
13. ↑ Thomas Urban , Spain ghost airports , sz.de , November 1st of 2019.
14. ↑ Uno de los mayores aviones de pasajeros hace prácticas en el aeropuerto de Castellón, El Mediterraneo, March 12, 2016
15. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Lonely Airports in Spain , accessed on May 29, 2012