Caen – Carpiquet Airport (French: ''Aéroport de Caen - Carpiquet)'' is an international airport located in

Carpiquet Carpiquet () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Caen – Carpiquet Airport is located in Carpiquet. Geography Carpiquet is on the western side of the Caen metropolitan area. The town is div ...

, 6 km west of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

'' of the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

(formerly

Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departme ...

) ''

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

'' of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Chalair Aviation Chalair Aviation is a French regional airline with its head office and base on the grounds of Caen – Carpiquet Airport in Carpiquet. It operates scheduled regional services as well as charter flights for various occasions. History The airlin ...

has its head offices at the airport. In 2017, Caen – Carpiquet Airport handled 180,910 passengers, an increase of 30.1% over 2016. In 2018, it handled 274,011 passengers, a 51.5% increase over 2017.

History

The military base (1939-1967)

The idea of an airfield near

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' in June 1940, it served as a rear base during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. While under German control the runway was extended and concreted. In June and July 1944, during the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, Anglo-Canadian and German troops engaged in long and harsh fights over control of the strategically important aerodrome. Following the war, the airfield was rebuilt and refitted for the

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

Civil airport (since 1967)

The 16 May 1969 decree placed the aerodrome under the civil aviation general secretariat, a branch of the transport ministry. In the late 1960s, Caen City Council further developed the aerodrome for civilian use under the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's management. In May 1968, a terminal building was built, housing a public concourse, service offices, and a restaurant. Since March 2007, the airport has been managed by the

Urban community of Caen la Mer Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

By late 2008, a regularly scheduled Caen - Paris-Orly route was introduced with two round trips per week. This was the second scheduled route after Caen -

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. In 2010, the frequency of the Caen - Paris-Orly route was increased to three round trips per week, and then further increased to Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. In 2014, the low-cost company

Flybe Flybe (pronounced ), styled as flybe, is a British airline based at Birmingham Airport, England. History The airline traces its history back to Jersey European Airways, which was set up in 1979 following the merger of Intra Airways and Expre ...

opened a route between Caen and

London Southend Airport London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of Southend-on-Sea and the R ...

. The Caen - Paris-Orly route was also discontinued on the decision of the route operator Hop. Between July and August, the 13/31 runway was rebuilt, as well as the taxiway which was also enlarged. By 2020, the main 1900 meters long runway is expected to be extended to an eventual length of between 2250 and 2400 meters long. A regularly scheduled route Caen - Geneva was expected to start on 26 November 2018, a seasonal route Caen - Pau was expected to start in December 2018 and a seasonal route Caen -

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...

was expected to start in April 2019. The London-Caen route was discontinued in early 2020, when the airline

became defunct.

Facilities

Caen airport has two concrete runways (13/31 and 05/23) and two grass runways for recreational aviation. The long main runway (13/31) is equipped with high intensity approach lighting. Runway 31 is equipped with a Category III

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Caen – Carpiquet Airport:

Traffic

Access

The airport is located west of Caen, on

commune. Since 29 June 2015, it has been served by

Twisto Twisto is the brand name under which buses and trams are operated in the Norman city of Caen. The CTAC (Compagnie des Transports de l'Agglomération Caenaise) owns the buses and has been operating services under the Twisto brand since 2002. Its ...

bus line 3.

References

External links

''Aéroport de Caen - Carpiquet''
(official site)
''Aéroport de Caen - Carpiquet''
(''Union des Aéroports Français'') * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caen - Carpiquet Airport Airports in France Caen Buildings and structures in Calvados (department) Transport in Normandy Airports established in 1926