Vitoria Gasteiz is a small, provincial airport that only recieved 85,000 passengers during 2005. This is set to change in 2006 as Ryanair have announced that they are to start a dialy flight between London Stansted and Vitoria from February 27th.

The City of Vitoria is about 10 kms away and the airport is just 64 kms south of Bilbao. This makes it a good alternative way of spending a weekend break either in Bilbao or exploring this beautiful and unspoilt part of Spain. For more information on the area visit www.vitoria-gasteiz.org which is in English.

Although the passenger numbers at the airport are low it actually handles a huge amount of cargo flights. Only Barcelona and Madrid Airports handle more cargo.

At the time of writing this there are not any buses at Vitoria Airport. This is bound to change once Ryanair have established a base here. In Airports such as Jerez, Murcia, Reus and Girona bus routes started fairly soon after Ryanair moved in.

Taxis can be found outside of the terminal building and we have read that the local taxi companies have an obligation to provide taxis for all flights. Expect to pay €15-17 to get into the City Center and allow €70-80 if you are heading up to Bilbao.

The arrivals hall at Vitoria is small on the same level as the departures hall. In the departures hall you will find 7 check in desks and a cafe serving snacks and drinks each day. At the moment there are not any shops at the airport.

History

In 1934, the Ministry of Communications authorised the construction of an airport located in Zalburu, one kilometre to the east of the city of Vitoria, between the towns of Elorriaga and Betoño, by the main road to Irún. It was declared to be of general interest and public service and was opened on the 29th September 1935, with the name of José Martínez Aragón. After the Civil War, although the airport was not active, it was renamed General Mola Airport. A decree dated 12th July 1946 reopened the airport to civilian, domestic and international tourist traffic and for commercial refuelling stops. However, only six months later it was again closed to traffic. The airport did not reopen until 1948, when Álava Council and the Vitoria City Council ceded it to the Air Ministry. In 1957 it was again closed to air traffic and in 1966 it was opened to private and leisure aviation operations.

In 1970, because of the economic development of the region, the Álava Chamber of Commerce and Industry requested the intervention of the regional council to establish scheduled flight paths to link Vitoria with main Spanish and European cities. The first analysis carried out on the airport demonstrated that it was impossible to use the existing site. Therefore, after studying the case, it was concluded that the best economic and technical solution was to use an area of land situated in the region of Foronda on the plains of Álava. The construction of the new aerodrome was authorised In the summer of 1972.

In 1976, the Civil Aviation under-secretary approved the first stage of the airport, which involved the construction of a runway measuring 2,200 by 45 metres, the installation of an ILS category II system, VASIS, a runway visual range meter, RVR and a system to measure the height of clouds. The runway was later extended to 3,500 metres. In 1978, construction work for a fire station, control tower and means of access was begun.

On the 30th January 1980, a ministerial order was published, opening the airport to domestic and international passenger traffic with permanent operation hours and it was classified as special first category. On the 16th February, the regional council transferred ownership of the land, buildings and facilities to the Ministry of Transport. The aviation use of General Mola Airport was terminated and the land returned to Vitoria City Council and the regional council. On 6th April , Iberia launched the Madrid-Vitoria link.

In 1981, the Customs facilities at Vitoria Airport were enlarged to enable it to despatch freight. From then on, the airport began to specialise in air cargo handling, taking on the role of the merchandise distribution centre in the north of the Spanish peninsular. The company called VIA was established in 1994 to promote this activity and is formed by Aena, Vitoria City Council, Álava Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the regional council and the Local Basque Government.

Vitoria Airport - AENA airport

Address:

01196

Vitoria / Alava

Airport Code: VIT

Telephone: 0034 945 163 591

Fax: 945 163 551

E-mail: vit infovit at aena es

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

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

11483 x 148 feet
3500 x 45 meters

Navaids

Vitoria Airport - AENA airport

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2006.
We don't guarantee the information is fresh and accurate. The data may be wrong or outdated.
For more up-to-date information please refer to other sources.