Sion Airport, german: Flughafen Sitten, it, Aeroporto di Sion, rm, Eroport da Sion (Military: LSMS) is the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

of the city of

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and is located 2.5 km southwest of Sion city in the Rhone Valley. The airport opened in 1935.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate seasonal and seasonal charter flights at Sion Airport: The nearest larger international airport is

Geneva Airport Geneva Airport ,, german: Flughafen Genf, it, Aeroporto di Ginevra, rm, Eroport de Genevra formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport, is the international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It i ...

, approx. to the west, while the smaller Bern Airport is equidistant to the north.

Statistics

25,992 passengers were travelling through Sion Airport in the year 2019.

Military usage

The

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army and ...

uses Sion as one of their four jetfighter air bases, the others being Payerne, Meiringen and Emmen. It is known as ''Flugplatzkommando 14 Sion''. In addition to the prop-types Pilatus PC-6,

Pilatus PC-7 The Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft designed and manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The aircraft is capable of all basic training functions including aerobatics, instrument, tactical and ni ...

, Pilatus PC-9 and Pilatus PC-21 as well as helicopters it uses Sion intensively with the fighter jets F/A-18 and F-5 Tiger. It is the home base of the militia pilot unit Fliegerstaffel 19 Swans with F-5E. Sion Airport is, at both ends of the runway, equipped with retractable

arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBA ...

devices (used by the F/A-18 and in case of a problem by the F-5). Due to the redimension of the Swiss Air Force, it was planned that the Air Force would leave Sion after 2017 and Sion would be used by civil aviation only, acting only as alternate airfield for the Air Force.

References

Notes

External links

Official website
* {{authority control