Zaragoza Airport

Aeropuerto de Zaragoza
Summary
Airport typePublic and military
Owner/OperatorAena
LocationZaragoza, Aragón, Spain
Elevation AMSL263 m / 863 ft
Coordinates41°39′58″N 01°02′30″W / 41.66611°N 1.04167°W / 41.66611; -1.04167
Websiteaena-aeropuertos.es
Map
ZAZ is located in Spain
ZAZ
ZAZ
Location within Spain
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12R/30L 3,718 12,200 Concrete
12L/30R 3,024 9,921 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers467,774
Passengers change 18-19Decrease 4.4%
Movements10,797
Movements change 18-19Increase 10.7%
Cargo (t)182,659
Cargo change 18-19Increase 9.5%
Sources: AENA

Zaragoza Airport (Aragonese and Spanish: Aeropuerto de Zaragoza; IATA: ZAZ, ICAO: LEZG) is an international airport near Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. It is located 16 km (9.9 miles) west of Zaragoza, 270 km (170 miles) west of Barcelona, and 262 km (163 miles) northeast of Madrid. In addition to serving as a major cargo airport, it is also a commercial airport and, as Zaragoza Air Base, is the home of the Spanish Air and Space Force 15th Group.

History

Aerial view
Airport diagram

During the Cold War, the United States Air Force (USAF) used the facility as Zaragoza Air Base.

The construction work on Zaragoza Airport began in September 1954 with the enlargement and improvement of the existing Spanish Air Force Base located there. United States Navy engineers upgraded the facility for temporary or intermediate use as a war standby base. The first U.S. construction project included strengthening the existing 3,024 m (9,921 ft) runway and adding 304 m (1,000 ft) overruns at each end. Work on a new concrete runway, 61 by 3,718 metres (200 ft × 12,200 ft), with 61 m (200 ft) overruns at each end, began in 1956 and was completed in 1958.

Zaragoza was one of three major USAF Cold War airbases in Spain, the others being Torrejón Air Base near Madrid and Morón Air Base near Seville.

The airport was also used by NASA as a contingency landing site for the Space Shuttle in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL). Zaragoza was chosen as a NASA Space Shuttle TAL site due to its long runway, which needs be longer than 7,500 feet, its pleasant weather, and alignment with Shuttle launches to the high-inclination International Space Station orbit. The base also has a military-grade navigation system called a TACAN—"Tactical Air Navigation"—that can adapt to the special guidance devices NASA used with its shuttles.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Binter Canarias Gran Canaria, Tenerife–North[2]
Iberia Seasonal: Gran Canaria,[3] Ibiza,[4] Menorca[3]
Ryanair[5] Beauvais, Bergamo, Charleroi, Fez (begins 3 April 2024),[6] London–Stansted, Marrakesh, Santiago de Compostela
Seasonal: Bologna, Palma de Mallorca,[7] Treviso[8]
Volotea Seasonal: Menorca
Vueling[9] Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–North
Seasonal: Lanzarote,[10] Paris–Orly[11]
Wizz Air Bucharest–Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
AirBridgeCargo[12]Moscow–Sheremetyevo (suspended)
Air China Cargo[13]Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong, Tianjin
Atlas Air[14] Almaty, Amsterdam, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Istanbul, Liège, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Miami, Riyadh, Seoul–Incheon, Tel Aviv, Zhengzhou
Avianca Cargo[15]Amsterdam, Bogotá, Miami
Geo-Sky[16]Türkmenabat[17]
Cargolux[18]Luxembourg
China Cargo Airlines[19]Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong
Emirates SkyCargo[20] Dubai–Al Maktoum, Mexico City, Quito
Ethiopian Cargo[21]Addis Ababa, Bogotá, Guangzhou, Liège, Mexico City, Miami
Qatar Airways Cargo[22]Beirut, Chicago–O’Hare, Dhaka, Doha, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Mexico City, New York-JFK, Quito
Saudia Cargo[23]Dammam, Riyadh

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at ZAZ airport. See Wikidata query.
Zaragoza Airport – Traffic Information
Year Passengers (change) Movements (change) Cargo tons (change)
2011 751,097 (+24.0%) 11,970 (-5.9%) 48,609 (+14.3%)
2012 551,406 (-26.6%) 9,268 (-22.6%) 71,094 (+46.1%)
2013 457,284 (-17.1%) 7,597 (-18.3%) 71,661 (+0.7%)
2014 418,576 (-8.5%) 7,039 (-7.3%) 86,311 (+20.4%)
2015 423,873 (+1.3%) 7,050 (+0.1%) 85,741 (-0.8%)
2016 419,529 (-1.0%) 7,269 (+3.1%) 110,564 (+29.0%)
2017 438,035 (+4.4%) 7,965 (+9.6%) 142,185 (+29.1%)
2018 489,064 (+11.6%) 8,991 (+12.9%) 166,834 (+17.3%)
2019 467,774 (-4.4%) 8,770 (-2.5%) 182,659 (+9.5%)
2020 172,344 (-63.2%) 6,559 (-25.2%) 143,600 (-21,4%)

Ground transport

Currently, the airport is connected to the city center by a bus line (501), which goes from the Puerta del Carmen square, downtown, to the airport, also stopping at the city's main railway station: Zaragoza-Delicias. This train station is an important hub for long-distance trains, AVE high-speed trains and the commuter line of Cercanías Zaragoza, which takes passengers underground through the city and overground in the metropolitan area. In February 2023, Zaragoza mayor's office confirmed plans to create a direct bus service "on demand" [24]from June 2023. This line will be serviced by electric buses to start and will significantly reduce journey distances and the duration (it will be about 12 or 13 kilometers depending on the direction). Schedules of these buses will be coordinated with those of the flights scheduled at the airport.

References

  1. ↑ "Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) Sites" (PDF). NASA. December 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  2. ↑ @BinterCanarias (February 19, 2020). "Ampliamos nuestras frecuencias a..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. 1 2 "IBERIA NS23 DOMESTIC / SPAIN NETWORK ADDITIONS".
  4. ↑ "Air Nostrum conectará Zaragoza e Ibiza en verano con dos frecuencias semanales" [Air Nostrum will connect Zaragoza and Ibiza in summer twice weekly]. Air Nostrum (in Spanish). 15 March 2022.
  5. ↑ "Flights". Ryanair.
  6. ↑ "Ryanair Morocco NS24 Network Expansion". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Ryanair NW23 Network Changes – 17SEP23".
  8. ↑ "RYANAIR NS23 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 05DEC22".
  9. ↑ "Home". Vueling.
  10. ↑ "Vueling impulsa Lanzarote mejorando los horarios y con una nueva ruta a Zaragoza" [Vueling promotes Lanzarote by improving schedules and with a new route to Zaragoza]. Crónicas de Lanzarote (in Spanish). 3 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Nuevo vuelo de Zaragoza a Paris Orly" [New flight from Zaragoza to Paris Orly]. Soy de Zaragoza.es (in Spanish). 30 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Our network". AirBridgeCargo.
  13. ↑ "Freight Network". Air China Cargo Co. Ltd.
  14. ↑ "Atlas Air Schedule". Atlas Air. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "News". Avianca Cargo.
  16. ↑ "News". THP. 14 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map".
  18. ↑ "Network & Offices". Cargolux.
  19. ↑ "China Cargo Airlines flight CK218". FlightRadar24.
  20. ↑ "Air network". Emirates SkyCargo.
  21. ↑ "Cargo Network". Ethiopian Airlines. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  22. ↑ "Winter 2019 Freighter Schedule Issue 3: January to March 2020" (PDF). Qatar Cargo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2020.
  23. ↑ "Winter 2019-2020 Schedule". Saudia Cargo. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020.
  24. ↑ Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, Oficina de Participación, Transparencia y Gobierno. "La nueva línea específica al Aeropuerto de Zaragoza será operada con autobuses de hidrógeno por el grupo ALSA. Noticia. Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza". www.zaragoza.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-02-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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