Airport comments for Europe
Comments 2,451 to 2,500 of 2,494
re: Runways?
According to the Wikipedia article they are, in fact, runways.
re: Closed?
Yes, the airport closed in 1989. It was actually a well-known airport before that. I found the information in the French Wikipedia.
re: Closed?
I agree, Paul. The Great Circle Mapper also has this airport, at almost the same location:
http://gc.kls2.com/airport/LFPR
On the other hand, the 2008-06 ICAO Location Indicators doc no longer lists LFPR, so it looks pretty likely that it's closed. Can anyone confirm when the airport shut down? I've tagged it with my "fixme" tag for now, so that I'll remember to come back to it.
Closed?
It sure doesn't look like an airport in the satellite photo.
Runways?
Are those runways or helicopter taxiways?
ID?
I think this is one of those airports where the military operation and the civil operation have different ICAO codes - if you google it, you get about 50/50 split between LSTA and LSMN. The ICAO "LocationIdentifiersbystate.pdf" says that LSMN is the military one.
Calls for customs
There are calls for the airport to add customs services and accept international flights, so that passengers can fly directly to Chechnya, without having to pass through Moscow:
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2880035
Reopened in spring, 2007
This airport was in ruins after the Chechan war, but it was repaired after the fighting died down, and was reopened for scheduled service in spring 2007. There's still occasional violence in Chechnya, but airplanes no longer have to spiral down from directly above the airport to avoid rocket fire. Here's a story from fall 2007:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/world/europe/11chechyna.html?_r=1&ref=europe
Info
Nice airport. I have flown there several times with our friend in a Fournier RF5.
Went to the north (Cherbourg ) and the south ( Le Mont Saint Michel ).
Used for holiday traffic from Yersey (GB ) and internal from france.
Also 4 motor hanggliders for tourists.
Helibase of Swiss AF
viewing platform on the east side
CFB Lahr (EDAN?)
This airport used to be a Canadian Forces Base. The airport was used mostly for the frequent flights to and from Canada and for intra-Europe flights. In the 1980s and into the early 90s, the aircraft hardened shelters were used as an army garrison. One of the hard shelter areas was used by 444 Sqn, a tactical helicopter squadron flying the CH-136 Kiowa. I think that the ICAO code was EDAN at that time; I have no idea why it was changed. Even if the vocation of the airport changed drastically, I see no reason to change the ICAO code...
re: Not in use
Thanks. I've marked it as closed, and linked to an historical military field site as the home page.
Not in use
This airport is not in use
WYTON RAF IN MY HEARTH, FOR EVER.
AT THE END OF THE FALKLANDS "AFFAIR" ( I DON´T WANT TO SAY WAR ) I WENT TO WYTON RAF FOR A TRAINING COURSE ON CANBERRAS PR9. THREE OF THESE AIRCRAFTS FLEW TO SOUTH AMERICA AND BECAME PART OF THE CHILEAN AIR FORCE FLEET.
THERE IN HUNTINGDOM, I KNEW WONDERFULL PEOPLE AND I HAVE SPECIAL RECALLS OF THAT STAY.
Very flexible
This is a small airport, situated extremely close to the village of Drachten. A small caveat is that only 26 is open for GA. 08 is only for MLA traffic nowadays.
An airport official at the office told us later that 08 might be used by GA-traffic, but only after permission and instructions from the tower and that landings should be done at the threshold (this is very tricky because of the trees at the beginning of 08).
Furthermore if you're entering from the south you may enter the circuit from the east, but again only with permission from the tower (or you could ask for a straight in, but that's not so much of a fun).
EXTRA - Class
This is the home of Extra Flugzeugbau!
www.extraaircraft.com/
LFKJ-AJA
According to the "Service de l'Information Aéronautique" (SIA) - www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr
Ajaccio airport is now called "Napoléon Bonaparte" stead of "Campo dell'Oro".
Closed?
This airport has been closed for a while now.
Paris Charles de Gaulle
Paris Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) is not very practicable. Difficulties to access by the périphérique "highway" crowded traffic (Trucks). Baggage claim zone is a terrible jungle. A positive point is the RER between Paris "Gare du Nord" and Terminals not very cheap but very easy to use and fast. Negative point, sometimes not reliable due to strikes.
Article on Ashaig Airstrip
Here's a detailed English-language article about this airstrip from a Dutch site:
Operations at Pontecagnano
According to the Italian Wikipedia article, Pontecagnano is a joint military-civilian airport with scheduled airline service to Milan Malpensa (MXP), Catania (CTA), Verona (VRN), Barcelona (BCN), Bucharest (BBU), and Munich (MUC). It also hosts a fair bit of bizjet traffic, as well as the long-established Aeroclub di Salerno, which includes a flying school:
Spanair Flight 5022 destination
Gran Canaria Airport was the destination of Spanair Flight 5022, the flight that crashed right after takeoff from Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD) on August 20, 2008:
Spanair Flight 5022
On August 20, 2008, an MD-82 jet crashed immediately after takeoff from runway 36L and caught fire, killing at least 153 of the 172 people on board. It was bound for Gran Canaria Airport (LPA):
re: A little information about Beja airport
Thanks for the update, Marcela. The Ryanair web site is not yet listing Beja as a destination, but as soon as they add it, we can change the airport's status to show scheduled airline service.
Two ICAO codes
This airport has two ICAO codes: LEVS as a military airport, and LECU as a civilian airport.
only for skydiving: contact gojump.de
only for skydiving: contact gojump.de
Landing on the beach
This airport has scheduled service from Twin Otters that land on the beach.
Parachute dropzone
Beautiful place filled with friendly skydivers through the summer months.
History
There was an airfield here from 1917 until the 1980s. It's still an active (non-flying) airbase belonging to the RAF and used by the U.S.
Birr Airport (EIBR)
I visited Birr Ireland in summer of 2005. I was looking on the Internet for a flying club in Ireland for the possiblity of 'stick time' in the various countries that my wife and I visited. The Birr Aero Club was having a fly-in during our vacation so we researched the Birr area, discovering that Birr was a wonderfull base of operations for exploring central Ireland.
Since we had visited the Oshkosh AirVenture fly-in a few weeks earlier, we thought another, much smaller, fly-in was a wonderful idea. There were two small rows of campers (caravans) that looked a little bit like Oshkosh. The Aero Club was doing 'donation flights' so that I was able to view and photograph Birr from the air.
One of the attractions is the Parsons Estate. The Parsons family have been engineers and scientists for literal centuries. One of them invented the steam turbine about 100 years ago -- the heart of modern power plants and steam ships. Another Parsons built an enourmous telescope that is on display; in fact many of the family have been inovators in optics and photography.
LAPRAKA AIRFIELD
Lapraka, also known as Tirana Aerodrome, is the former airport of Albania's capital. It used to house an air force regiment with Y-5s, operating from the old runway, and later, from the grass runway. Currently, Lapraka only houses the helicopters of the Albanian government
Easy airport
I visited Schiphol for the second time in 2006. It was simple, fast, and well-organized, with virtually no waiting time for customs. Easy and inexpensive to get into Amsterdam (or to other parts of Holland) by rail. Coming from North America, you're far better connecting here than Heathrow for visiting the continent.
Good organised
I often visit this airport, and I always feel comfortable, since everything is well-organised. There has been a period that to passing security check-in took long cueing, but that also seems to be resolved by now.
re: Change of designator
For the identifier, I'm sticking with Wikipedia and using LEPA as the primary one. The Wikipedia article also mentions that Son San Joan Airport is the previous name. I have the other code and the older name in keywords, so that they'll still show up for searches.
re: Change of designator
The DAFIF record for this airport shows both ids. I assume it's one for the civil part and one for the military part. It also has "Palma De Mallorca" and "Son San Juan" shown as names.
So which one are you going with?
re: Change of designator
Thanks for the corrections, bru25l. We actually had two copies of this airport in the database, one under LESJ and one under LEPA. I removed the old copy and updated the proper one to show that it's a major airport.
Contact info for Bex
An anonymous OurAirports visitor who wanted to book a sightseeing flight from Bex airport sent in this information:
"Just in case you ever want to know the number for Bex Airport, it's 024 463 24 40, and when you call that, they give another number: 078 607 97 22 and when you ring that, there's a message that he's flying and he'll get back to me ..."
Schedule to close in May 2008
The Royal Navy has abandoned this field, and it is scheduled to close on 14 May 2008; however, the Lee Flying Association is challenging the closure.
re: Landing at EGXC
Jean-Paul:
You can find contact info for RAF Coningsby at their official web site:
Landing at EGXC
Dear Sirs,
On the 17th. of june I would make a flight with my PA28 (OO-JGA) from EBKT to your field, with a couple of friends who will go for Golf at Woodhall Spa. Return flight would be on the 18th. of june.
Is this possible and wich are the rules at Coningsby Airfield ?
Kind Regards.
Jean-Paul Vaes
Nopstal, 28
B 3202 Rillaar.
jp.vaes@marvel.be
Tel. 0032 479.945.944
Norway's oldest airport
Kjeller opened in 1912. It's mostly military, with a large maintenance facility, but is also open to general aviation.
London Ashford Airport
This airport has been officially renamed to "London Ashford", which is a bit of a stretch, since it's 60 miles from Charing Cross. There are plans to expand it and bring in airline service, with lots of local opposition.
grosseto italy
it is military airport, but there are some flyth from scandinavian tour operator
hello
Nice airport
Nice little airport, with a gentle service of the airfield operators.
The city Oostende
This airport is the first one where I had to stay the night over (gladly enough in a hotel down-town). Together with a pilot-friend we had a superb night with oisters and mussels, despite our disappointment of staying over.
The airport itself is not so special, but the city of Oostende is worth another visit.
Under construction
There is a lot of construction underway at Sheremetyevo, including a new terminal and a new runway:
Living in the South Terminal
An unemployed chef managed to live in Gatwick's South Terminal for almost four years before he was finally arrested:
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2008/02/grounded_at_gatwick.html
History: Berlin Air Lift
The Berlin Air Lift, "Operation Vittles", started here in 1948 with USAAF C-47 and C-54 cargo planes flying supplies into the now-closed Berlin-Templehof airport. Rhein-Main Air Base joined as the main C-54 depot, and the British flew missions from several bases in the Hamburg area. France joined the airlift later.
re: ID?
🔗 Thu, 08 Jan 2009
— @david at Raron Airfield, Switzerland
Thanks, Paul. I've switched it to the civil identifier, since that's more generally useful.