San Sebastian airport is situated in the locality of Hondarribia, 22 kilometres northeast of the city of San Sebastian, in the district of Bidasoa, on the River Bidasoa estuary.

Its traffic is basically scheduled domestic, as well as international, and in 2005 it handled 308,775 passengers. It also handled 11,007 flight operations and 415 tonnes of cargo.

History

In 1910, Guipúzcoa province had two airfields – Ondarreta and Lasarte – as well as San Sebastián bay, which was suitable for seaplane use. In 1920, a group of enthusiasts from the town of Irún put a proposition forward to the Ministry of Public Works involving the construction of an airport in this area. The area chosen was Playaundi, at the mouth of the River Bidasoa and measured 800 by 400 metres.

During the twenties, authorisation was obtained from the Ministry of Public Works to establish various air routes: in 1922, San Sebastián-Madrid; in 1924, San Sebastián-Canary Islands and in 1926, San Sebastián-Tenerife.

The National Airport Plan of 1929 mentioned the desirability of creating a border aerodrome near Irún and San Sebastián. Irún Town Council, the Provincial Council and San Sebastián Council offered land at Playaundi as the airport site and provided financial aid to carry out the works. Due to the technical and financial difficulties encountered over construction, the airport lost its qualification as a national airport in December 1931. The project was frozen and in September 1934, the Irún Airport Committee was dissolved.

The need for an airport in Guipúzcoa was reconsidered in the fifties, due to the development of air transport in Spain. In 1952, once all necessary schemes had been carried out, construction work on an airport in the Bidasoa estuary, in the municipality of Fuenterrabía, were declared to be urgent.

The airport opens to traffic

On 22nd August 1955, the airport was opened and on 29th August, it was officially opened for all domestic traffic, international tourist traffic and refuelling stops. The airline Aviaco started scheduled flights four days later. It had one runway, known as the 05-23 which was 1,200 metres long. However, operations using runway 23 involved flying over French territory, which provoked immediate protest from the government of France. Furthermore, due to the lack of airport facilities, a nearby canning factory had to be converted into the passenger terminal.

In July 1957, delegations from Spain and France held a meeting to establish an agreement on the limits for the operation of Fuenterrabía Airport. The agreement led to the establishment of aeronautic rights in June 1959, but prohibiting the use of jet engines at the airport.

In July 1961, work to extend the runway to 1,500 metres long were completed. In May 1963, the airport was classified as a Customs airport. During 1964 and 1965, the control tower was built, the aircraft parking facilities were enlarged and the airport was officially named as San Sebastián Airport. In 1967, works started to build and condition the terminal, which was opened in June 1968. In December 1969, the airport was closed to traffic to extend the runway to its present 1,754 metres.

On the 18th March 1992, a new agreement was signed between Spain and France on the use of jet engines at San Sebastián Airport. A maximum daily quota was established, stipulating twelve MD-88 aircraft manoeuvres and twelve BAE-146 aircraft manoeuvres. There were to be no night operations.

In July 1996, the VOR/DME was installed, located 5.07 kilometres from threshold 04, with SSN identifier. In August 1997, a new NDB/DME was installed, located on course 355 at 2.7 kilometres from threshold 22, with HIG indicator.

San Sebastián Airport - AENA airport

Address:

Ctra. de Playaundi, s/n 20280 Hondarribia/Guipúzcoa

Telephone: 943 668 500

Fax: 943 668 561

URL: http://www.aena.es/sansebastian

AENA accepts no responsibility for the information posted at this site neither for the possible damages caused for the use of this information.

Runway 04/22

5755 x 148 feet
1754 x 45 meters

Navaids

Navaids

San Sebastián Airport - AENA airport

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2006.
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