Maupertus-sur-Mer Airfield
Maupertus-sur-Mer Airfield is a former World War II military airfield, which is located near the city of Cherbourg-Octeville in the Manche department of Lower Normandy in northwestern France.
The facility was built as a French military airfiel ...
''
Cherbourg–Maupertus Airport or ''Aéroport de Cherbourg–Maupertus'' is an airport located 11 km east of
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (, ; Norman: ''Tchidbouo'') is a port city in the department of Manche, Normandy, northwestern France, established on 1 January 2016.Maupertus-sur-Mer and Gonneville. These are all ''
communes
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
'' of the
Manche
Manche (, ; Norman language, Norman: ) is a coastal Departments of France, French ''département'' in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as , literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
'' in the
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
''
région
France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which have ...
'' of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The airport is managed by SNC-Lavalin Airports (subsidiary of the large Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin) since 1 October 2009.
It has one runway, runway 10/28. It is 2440 metres long and is covered in asphalt. There are six bays, numbered N1 to N6. There are currently no scheduled flights operating to or from the airport. Until early 2008 there was one scheduled flight a day from
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
via Cherbourg although this has now been withdrawn.
Charter flights occasionally operate to and from the airport.
Airlines and destinations
No destinations served at present, as
Twin Jet
Twin Jet is a French regional airline based in Aix-en-Provence.
History
Twin Jet was founded in May 2001 and operated its first scheduled flight in March 2002. The company operates 250 flights a week mainly on domestic routes within France a ...
dropped services to
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
Airlinair
Société Airlinair, simply known as Airlinair, was a French regional airline based in Rungis, France, operating scheduled regional flights (some of which were on behalf of Air France), and aircraft lease services. The airline has set up bases ...
(who had taken over the service to Paris), which both failed to make links to Paris profitable.
Statistics
History
The airport was first built in 1937 as a French Air Force military airfield. It was captured and used by the German Luftwaffe during the Occupation of France, and seized by the United States Army on 27 June 1944 during the liberation of the Cherbourg area. It was used as a fighter and bomber airfield by the United States Army Air Forces in 1944. After the Americans moved east into Central France with the advancing Allied Armies, the airfield was used as a resupply and casualty evacuation airfield for several months, before being closed on 22 December 1944. It was then turned over to French authorities.
75th D-Day commemorations
June 2019 saw the airport being used for the temporary basing of C-47 Skytrain/Dakota, DC-3, USAF MC-130J & C-130's for the 75th D-Day commemorative air drops.