Murcia–San Javier Airport is a military
air base and former civilian passenger
airport located in
San Javier, southeast of
Murcia, Spain. It is owned by the
Spanish Air and Space Force. It was replaced (after several delays) by the new
Región de Murcia International Airport, when it opened on 15 January 2019.
Overview
Operations
The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a
Boeing 757. It has Category 5 fire cover by the
IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
, and also has one ambulance available.
The military air base dates back to at least the early 1930s and is located at the northern end of the airport. It is used chiefly by
Spanish Air and Space Force turboprop, piston and jet-engined training aircraft of the
Academia General del Aire (the Spanish Air Force College), including the aerobatic demonstration team of the Spanish Air and Space Force
Patrulla Águila which can often be seen practicing over the nearby
Mar Menor
Mar Menor (, "minor/smaller sea") is a coastal saltwater lagoon in the Iberian Peninsula located south-east of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, Spain, near Cartagena.
Its name is the opposite of the Mediterranean, which is the (greater/larg ...
.
In recent years, Murcia Airport became much busier thanks to the arrival of several low-cost airlines. According to Aena, passenger numbers jumped from 88,608 in 1995 to 1,181,490 passengers in 2012.
Replacement
The airport invested in a new €60 million runway and terminal buildings around 2004 to 2011 In November 2011, the Minister of Public Works Antonio Sevilla, and Secretary of State for Transport Isaías Táboas, signed an official agreement that effectively proposed to close the airport to civilian air traffic from 2012.
In November 2017, the Spanish government said it would be awarding AENA the contract of managing Corvera Airport - whereby San Javier would be closed and flights transferred. In April 2018, it was confirmed that the new
Región de Murcia International Airport, which is situated in closer proximity to the city of Murcia, would open in January 2019. San Javier closed on 14 January 2019 and all airlines transferred their services to the new airport the following day. The final flight to operate at San Javier was
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
flight FR4117 to
Manchester.
Airlines and destinations
All operations transferred to
Región de Murcia International Airport on 14 January 2019. Prior to this it was mostly used by leisure and low-cost carriers such as
Jet2.com and
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
.
Statistics
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murcia-San Javier Airport
Defunct airports in Spain
Airports in the Region of Murcia
San Javier, Murcia
Airports disestablished in 2018