Son Bonet Aerodrome () was the first civil

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. Originally built during the 1920s as an alternative to the military airport at Son Sant Joan, the first

commercial flight Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...

was in 1927 and a flying school established in 1935. The airfield is located in the

Marratxí Marratxí () is a municipality in the Raiguer region of Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands of Spain. As of 2005, it has a population of 28,237 and an area of 54 km2. It is also a station on the Majorca rail network. It became a municipali ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

between Pont d'Inca and Pla de Na Tesa, which is in close proximity to Palma (5½ km northeast from the town centre). During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

it was adapted for both civilian and military purposes. The

Italian air force The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...

briefly used the airport as one of their bases to launch bomber raids over the mainland. During 1946, Son Bonet was equipped as a customs airport and opened to domestic and international traffic in July. Over the following decade, the airport traffic increased, which facilitated modernisation and improvements to be made. However, the airport could neither accommodate larger aircraft nor could the runway be extended, so these services were transferred to the island's main airport in July 1959. Today it is primarily used for general and leisure aviation, with approximately 75,000 flights per year.

References

External links

Son Bonet Airport linkMap from AENA
Airports in the Balearic Islands

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

Airports established in 1927 {{Spain-airport-stub