From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Coruña Airport (IATA:
LCG, ICAO:
LECO), formerly known as Alvedro
Airport, is the airport serving the Galician city of A Coruña in northwestern
Spain. The airport is located in the municipality of Culleredo, approximately
7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the city center. It is a part
of the network of airports managed by Aena, a Spanish state-owned company responsible
for airport management and air traffic control. In 2007,
1,266,804 passengers used the airport.
History
and development
On 11 September 1953, the Council of Ministers of
Spain ordered the urgent construction of an airport to serve
the city of A Coruña.
This was the first airport to serve the area, as orthographic and
meteorological conditions in the region made construction
difficult. At the time, the only air service to the province of Galicia was through the Lavacolla Airport in Santiago de Compostela, which
opened in 1935.
The first airport was built on the Alvedro meseta in the municipality of Culleredo. The original air field was very
sparse; subsequent projects included the construction of parking
facilities and a terminal.
In 1961, radio, and electric monitoring facilities were
constructed. In 1962, a terminal building was constructed, and
landing lights and other signals were installed on the runway. At
the same time, the legislature of A Coruña ordered the construction
of a road to connect the airport with the cities of A Coruña and
Santiago de Compostela. In 1063, a services building was added to
the airport.
The construction was completed in May 1963, when the airport was
opened to national commercial traffic. The inauguration of the
airport took place on 25 May 1963, when the first commercial
airliner arrived from Madrid.
This first flight was operated by the Spanish Aviaco airline.
During 1964, Aviaco operated a Vigo-A
Coruña-Santander-San
Sebastián-Barcelona
line served by Convair 400s. The routing proved to be spectacularly
unpopular and unprofitable, and was discontinued after a year of
service. A brief attempt in 1971 to run an identical routing was
equally unsuccessful. By the end of the 1960s, the airport had
begun receiving charter flights from Switzerland and London,
England.
On 13 August 1973, Aviaco Flight 118 crashed in the
nearby town of Montrove while attempting to land in A Coruña. All
onboard perish, as well as one person on the ground.
A customs office was opened in 1979, and an air traffic control
room was added in 1990. A number of improvements were made during
the 1980s, including an increase of runway gradation of 1 degree 12
minutes and the installation of an Instrument Landing System (ILS).
By 1994, yearly passengers had surpassed 259,000. Further
expansion of the airport and its facilities, including a new
terminal building, as well as the urbanization of the surrounding
area has prompted continuous growth and the increasing popularity
of the airport. In 2001, the airport installed jet bridges and a cargo
terminal. Currently the airport has a single runway (22-04),
1,940 metres (6,400 ft) long, and is capable of
supporting up to 12 takeoffs and landings per hour.
Current and future projects include the expansion of parking
facilities, an upgrade of the ILS system from Category II to
Category III, a short runway expansion, and expanded aircraft
parking facilities.
Airlines and
destinations
External
links