Locarno Airport, german: Flugplatz Locarno, french: Aéroport de Locarno , mil ICAO code LSMO, also known as Locarno-Magadino Airport, is an airport located near the city of

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic ...

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, Switzerland. It is a mixed civilian and military airport. The airfield is used simultaneously by civilian aircraft and the Swiss Air Force from the "airfield command Locarno". Although they use the same runways, the Swiss Air Force has its own taxiways and parking and a large hangar. It is located in the community of

Gordola Gordola () is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Gordola is first mentioned in 1200 as ''Gordora''. In 1219, it was mentioned as ''Gordolla/e''. Gordola was located near major roads through ...

, seven kilometers east of the Locarno city center. The nearest stop to the Swiss Federal Railways is the 2 km distant station Riazzino of railway Giubiasco Locarno.

History

The civilian section of the airport was opened in the summer of 1939. The military section followed the following winter. Since 1941, the Swiss Air Force use it most, because of good weather conditions, for basic flight training of military pilots. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Swiss authorities identified existing locations that were to be modernized as regional airports, a second tier of infrastructure to support the primary urban airports, with Locarno-Magadino being one of the five.

Today

One paved runway, two grass runways, and one terminal are present at the airport. The airport is accessible by road by the Cantonale Street which connects to Route 13, which leads to a highway which bypasses the city and many interchanges help to get on and off the highway. The airport is bound by the scenic view of the Alps. The airport area itself includes companies such as the helicopter charter company "Eliticino", a partner of

Heliswiss Heliswiss AG is a Swiss helicopter company with headquarters on the property of Bern Airport in Belp, Switzerland, near Bern. History Heliswiss - the oldest helicopter company in Switzerland - was founded as „Heliswiss Schweizerische Helikop ...

, Europe's largest skydive center "Para Centro", the flight school "Aero Locarno", the aircraft maintenance company "Aeromecchanica" and the

Rega (air rescue) Swiss Air-Rescue (German: ''Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht'', French: ''Garde aérienne suisse de sauvetage'', Italian: ''Guardia aerea svizzera di soccorso'', Rega) is a private, non-profit air rescue service that pro ...

(Base No. Rega 6). The majority of aircraft movement is performed by smaller private aircraft. Much aircraft movement also comes through civilian training flights and training flights by the Swiss Air Force, the helicopter charter company "Eliticino" and the local gliding club, the latter using the two grass runways exclusively. In the period from 1999 to 2007, the airfield command spent around 100 million Swiss francs. The infrastructure has been completely renewed. It has a large new hangar with solar power system in which all aircraft are housed, a private, enclosed runway with private taxiway to runway 26R/08L. Furthermore, the new Hangar 5 was established for the parascouts stationed there.

Military aircraft

The most important Locarno command aircraft stationed at the airfield is the

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 n ...

for completing basic training for aspiring military pilots. At the same time the airfield command Locarno is the unofficial base of the

Aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glide ...

formation'' PC-7 Team'', also the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo-Porter,

Pilatus PC-9 The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Designed as a more powerful evolution of the Pilatus PC-7, the PC-9's first flight was made in May 1984 after ...

Eurocopter EC635 The Eurocopter EC635 (now Airbus Helicopters H135M) is a multi-purpose light helicopter developed by Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) as a military version of the Eurocopter EC135. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 8 people, ...

Eurocopter AS532 Cougar The Eurocopter AS532 Cougar (now Airbus Helicopters H215M) is a twin-engine, medium-weight, multipurpose helicopter developed by France. The AS532 is a development and upgrade of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma in its militarized form. Its civil ...

Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactu ...

and ADS-95 ( RUAG Ranger). File:Flugplatz Locarno (LSZL).jpg, From northwest in winter File:REGA Locarno.jpg, Rega Base 6 File:Übersicht LSZL.JPG, Layoutplan File:Militärischer_Teil_des_Flugplatzes_von_Locarno.jpg, New Hangar File:Tower LSMO.JPG, Tower File:Aeroporto Cantonale di Locarno Panorama.jpg, Panoramapicture from southwest File:PC9 1.jpg,

File:Drohne ADS 95 D-118.jpg, ADS 95 File:Cougar heli ag1.jpg, Aérospatiale AS332M1 Super Puma File:Eurocopter EC635.jpg,

Eurocopter EC 635 The Eurocopter EC635 (now Airbus Helicopters H135M) is a multi-purpose light helicopter developed by Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) as a military version of the Eurocopter EC135. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 8 people ...

References

Notes

External links

webpage (italian)

{{authority control Airports in Ticino Transport in Ticino Military airbases in Switzerland