Murcia–San Javier Airport
| Murcia–San Javier Airport Aeropuerto de Murcia-San Javier | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Spanish Air Force | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Aena | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Region of Murcia and Alicante | ||||||||||||||
| Location | San Javier, Spain | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 11 ft / 3.4 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°46′29″N 000°48′44″W / 37.77472°N 0.81222°W | ||||||||||||||
| Website | aena.es | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  Murcia–San Javier Airport Location within Spain  Murcia–San Javier Airport Murcia–San Javier Airport (Spain) | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2016) | |||||||||||||||
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Murcia–San Javier Airport (IATA: MJV, ICAO: LELC) is a military air base and civilian passenger airport located in San Javier, 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Murcia, Spain. It is owned by the Spanish Air Force and managed by Aena, the main airport manager in Spain. It will be replaced after several delays by the new Región de Murcia International Airport, when it opens on 15th January 2019.[2]
Overview
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Operations
The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 757. It has Category 5 fire cover by the IATA, and also has one ambulance available. Murcia is a popular destination for charter groups, and the airport is served by several charter airlines.
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 Force piston and jet-engined training aircraft of the Academia General del Aire (the Spanish Air Force College), including a well-known formation aerobatic display team which can often be seen practicing over the nearby Mar Menor. The military uses its own separate parallel runway and air traffic control tower with its glass windows.
In recent years, Murcia Airport has become 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.[3]
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. However, the airport remains open. San Javier passenger numbers are falling with growing uncertainty about the new Región de Murcia International Airport in Corvera. However, in the week of 13 December 2015: the Employment, Economy and Tourism Minister told the Spanish radio, Cadena Sur, Corvera airport "will open in 2017", having returned from an important regional committee meeting with Corvera dominating the talks.
Ever since 2012, Spanish media has been speculating about when Corvera airport will open. However, in mid-August 2016, Tumbit reported that Murcianos do not think Corvera airport will ever open. There seems to be two sides to the story once again - with the regional government reiterating the airport is "months from opening" but AENA are now showing their full commitment and support towards San Javier instead of Corvera.[4] In early September 2016, Murcia Today reported that local businesses close to the new international airport at Corvera do not think it will open until 2018 at the earliest, this is because of the long-running dispute between the contractors and the Murcian government. In early 2017, the workers at San-Javier airport went to Congress to launch a bid to keep their jobs and to urge the government not to open Corvera Airport, which is supported by AENA as well, who said opening the new airport is 'unviable'.[5]
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. [6] In April 2018 it was confirmed that the new Murcia-Corvera Airport is to open in early January 2019 with Murcia-San Javier to be closed by late 2018.
Región de Murcia International Airport, situated in closer proximity to the city of Murcia, is scheduled to open on 15 January 2019. Jet2.com and easyJet have already announced they will be operating from the airport from 2019 as of summer 2018.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Murcia:[7]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Seasonal: Dublin |
| British Airways | Seasonal: London–Heathrow |
| easyJet | Bristol (ends 23 March 2019), London–Gatwick (ends 24 March 2019), London–Southend (ends 23 March 2019)[8] |
| Jet2.com | Seasonal: Edinburgh (ends 22 October 2018), Leeds/Bradford (ends 2 November 2018), Manchester (ends 28 October 2018), Newcastle upon Tyne (ends 26 October 2018)[9] |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Seasonal: Bergen, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stavanger, Trondheim |
| Ryanair | Birmingham, Dublin, East Midlands, Leeds/Bradford, London–Luton, London–Stansted, Manchester Seasonal: Bournemouth, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Glasgow–Prestwick |
| Travel Service | Prague, Brno |
| TUI fly Belgium | Antwerp, Brussels–Charleroi |
References
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ↑ https://murciatoday.com/corvera-airport-murcia_341-tread.html
- ↑ "Estadísticas - Aeropuertos Españoles - aena.es". www.aena-aeropuertos.es.
- ↑ "No sign of closure for Murcia's San Javier Airport ? - Tumbit News Story". tumbit.com.
- ↑ "San Javier airport loses Madrid flights service". murciatoday.com.
- ↑ "Corvera and San Javier airports: what happens next?". murciatoday.com.
- ↑ aena.es - Destinos retrieved 9 February 2017
- ↑ "Timetables". easyjet.com. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ↑ "Jet2 to relocate Murcia ops from 1Q19 as San Javier closes". ch-aviation. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
External links
