Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport

Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport (Galician: Aeroporto de Santiago-Rosalía de Castro, Spanish: Aeropuerto de Santiago-Rosalía de Castro) (IATA: SCQ, ICAO: LEST), previously named Lavacolla Airport and also known as Santiago de Compostela Airport, is an international airport serving the autonomous community and historical region of Galicia in Spain. It is the 2nd busiest airport in northern Spain after Bilbao Airport. It has been named after the Galician romanticist writer and poetess, Rosalía de Castro, since 12 March 2020.[1]

Santiago - Rosalía de Castro Airport

Aeroporto de Santiago - Rosalía de Castro
Aeropuerto de Santiago - Rosalía de Castro
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OwnerENAIRE
OperatorAena
ServesSantiago, Galicia, Spain
LocationSantiago de Compostela
Focus city for
Built1932
Elevation AMSL1,213 ft / 370 m
Coordinates42°53′47″N 08°24′55″W
Websiteaena-aeropuertos.es/santiago
Map
SCQ
Location in Galicia
SCQ
SCQ (Spain)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 10,499 3,200 Asphalt
Statistics (2021)
Passengers1,653,821
Passengers change 20-2176.8%
Aircraft movements15,375
Movements change 20-2140.4%
Control tower

The airport is located in the parish of Lavacolla, 12 km from Santiago de Compostela and handled 2,903,427 passengers in 2019. It is the focus city of Vueling in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, and Ryanair's only focus city in Northern Spain. The Christian pilgrimage route of the Camino de Santiago runs near the airport.

History

The airport was set up by a group of aviation enthusiasts in October 1932 and two months directors were chosen to select where the airport was going to be built. In 1935 construction work started at the airport where two years later on 27 September 1937 the first scheduled flight from Santiago de Compostela took place. After the Spanish Civil war, political prisoners (who were held in the concentration camp of Lavacolla) were forced to work in the construction of the airport.[2]

In 1969 a new terminal was built at the airport. It has had several expansions taking place since it opened. It closed in 2011 following a brand new terminal being built at the airport. In 1981, a cargo terminal was built, giving the airport capacity to handle cargo flights.[3] During the 1990s, the airport had non-stop service to South America operated by Viasa.[4]

On 13 October 2011, a new passenger terminal opened at the airport, replacing the old terminal, opened in 1969 and remodeled in 1993.

Terminal

The airport currently has one operating terminal. The old terminal at Santiago de Compostela airport opened in 1969 and was often expanded. The old terminal closed on the night of 13 October 2011 when operations transferred to the new terminal.

The new terminal at Santiago de Compostela Airport officially opened on 13 October 2011 and passenger operations transferred there the following day. It is adjacent to the old terminal and has a size of 74,000 sq m. It has 22 check-in desks, 3 security checkpoints, 4 baggage carousels, and 13 gates of which 5 have airbridges. The baggage hall is split into two zones, one for Schengen flights and one for Non-Schengen. It can handle as many as 4 million passengers per year.[5] The terminal is due to be expanded in the future. This includes adding another five airbridges to five of the current gates as well as three more baggage carousels and an expanded shopping area.[6]

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Aer Lingus Seasonal: Dublin
easyJet Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva
Seasonal: London–Gatwick
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zurich
Iberia Madrid
Iberia Express Madrid
Iberia Regional Bilbao
Seasonal: Gran Canaria, Tenerife–North
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Ryanair Alicante, Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Bordeaux (begins 3 June 2022),[7] Charleroi, Dublin, Edinburgh, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Lanzarote, London–Stansted, Madrid, Málaga, Marseille, Memmingen, Palma de Mallorca, Seville, Tenerife–South, Valencia
Seasonal: Girona, Hahn, Ibiza, Menorca
Transavia Paris–Orly
Vueling Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, London–Gatwick, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Paris–Orly (resumes 11 June 2022, ends 3 July 2022), Seville, Tenerife–North, Valencia, Zurich
Seasonal: Brussels, Ibiza, Menorca

Statistics

During the early 2000s, numbers increased significantly at the airport, from 1.24 million in 2002 to peak at 2.46 million in 2011. Because of the financial crisis in Spain, those numbers decreased to 2.1 million in 2014. Cargo has decreased significantly over the last ten years. The Spanish economic recovery in the mid-2010s and the rise of Santiago de Compostela as an international destination are again increasing passenger numbers, breaking the 2.50 million mark for the first time in 2016.[8]

Traffic figures by year
Annual passenger traffic at SCQ airport. See source Wikidata query.
Passengers handledPassengers % ChangeAircraft movementsAircraft % ChangeFreight (tonnes)Freight % Change
2000 1,332,893-19,660-6,773-
2001 1,281,334 3.86%19,084 2.92%6,228 8.04%
2002 1,240,730 3.16%17.362 9.02%5,716 8.22%
2003 1,381,826 11.37%18,454 6.28%5,318 6.96%
2004 1,580,675 14.39%21,593 17.00%4,938 7.14%
2005 1,843,118 16.60%25,693 18.98%3,805 22.94%
2006 1,994,519 8.21%24,719 3.79%2,587 32.01%
2007 2,050,172 2.79%24,643 0.30%2,749 6.26%
2008 1,917,466 6.47%21,945 10.94%2,418 12.04%
2009 1,944,068 1.38%20,166 8.10%1,988 17.78%
2010 2,172,869 11.76%21,252 5.38%1,964 1.20%
2011 2,464,330 13.41%22,322 5.03%1,787 9.01%
2012 2,194,611 10.94%19,511 12.59%1,815 1.56%
2013 2,073,055 5.53%18,688 4.21%1,929 6.28%
2014 2,083,873 0.52%19,431 3.97%2,095 8.60%
2015 2,296,248 10.20%20,540 5.70%2,311 10.10%
2016 2,510,740 9.30%21,227 3.60%2,936 27.04%
2017 2,644,925 5.34%21,520 1.38%2,693 8.28%
2018 2,724,750 3.01%21,839 1.50%3,019 12.10%
2019 2,903,427 6.56%22,396 2.55%3,201 6.02%
2020 935,394 67.8%10,949 51.1%2,981 6.9%
2021 1,653,821 76.8%15,375 40.4%4,938 65.6%

Traffic figures by month
2021 Passengers2022 PassengersPassengers % Change
January 37,684130,796 247.1
February 18,800136,467 625.9
March 22,781190,548 736.4
April 38,240--
May 71,219--
June 136,512--
July 233,819--
August 270,304--
September 233,216--
October 235,207--
November 176,021--
December 180,018--

Route statistics
Diagram of the airport
Busiest domestic routes at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2021)[9]
Rank City Passengers  % Change
2020 / 21		 Carriers
1 Madrid 295,944 25.5% Iberia, Iberia Express, Ryanair
2 Barcelona 264,839 73.1% Ryanair, Vueling
3 Málaga 104,436 117.8% Ryanair, Vueling
4 Palma de Mallorca 102,080 51.6% Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling
5 Sevilla 96.411 172.2% Ryanair, Vueling
6 Gran Canaria 91.080 120.1% Air Europa, Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling
7 Valencia 79.565 102.2% Ryanair, Vueling
8 Alicante 73,337 69.0% Ryanair, Vueling
9 Tenerife (North) 65.757 56.5% Air Europa, Iberia Regional, Vueling
10 Lanzarote 64.111 76.7% Air Europa, Ryanair, Vueling


Busiest International routes at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2021)[9]
Rank City Passengers  % Change
2020 / 21		 Carriers
1 Geneva 53,090 92.5% easyJet Switzerland
2 London Stansted 37,906 51.6% Ryanair
3 Basel 27,483 90.7% easyJet Switzerland
4 Frankfurt 23,814 639.8% Lufthansa
5 Paris (Orly) 21,467 383.1% Transavia, Vueling
6 Milan (Bergamo) 18.981 186.4% Ryanair
7 London Gatwick 13,936
-		 Vueling
8 Amsterdam 12,520 138.1% Vueling
9 Zurich 10,865 251.8% Edelweiss, Vueling
10 Hahn 9,574
-		 Ryanair


Busiest countries of destination at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2021)[9]
Rank Country Passengers  % Change
2020 / 21		 Scheduled Carriers
1 Spain 1,402,899 71.86% Air Europa, Iberia, Iberia Express, Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling
2 Switzerland 91,438 102.83% easyJet Switzerland, Edelweiss, Vueling
3 United Kingdom 51,937 103.20% easyJet, Ryanair, Vueling
4 Germany 33,657 921.46% Lufthansa, Ryanair
5 Italy 23,936 66.64% Ryanair, Vueling
6 France 21,834 77.77% Transavia, Vueling
7 Netherlands 12,520 138.07% Vueling
8 Ireland 7,104 86.51% Aer Lingus
9 Belgium 5,204
-		 Vueling
10 Portugal 1,510
-
-


Busiest Carriers at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2021)[9]
Rank Carriers Passengers  % Change
2021 / 21
1 Ryanair 698,501 71.0%
2 Vueling 554,654 130.5%
3 Iberia Express 129,524 5.4%
4 Iberia 100,168 178.4%
5 easyJet Switzerland 80,864 92.7%
6 Iberia Regional 25,076 27.0%
7 Lufthansa 23,973 644.7%
8 Air Europa 18,061 25.4%
9 Aer Lingus 7,101 86.8%
10 Edelweiss 4,263 160.3%

Ground transportation

Road

The airport is linked with Santiago de Compostela (13 km) by the Autovía A-54. This motorway is currently being extended to Lugo (94.5 km) where it will connect with the Autovía A-6, providing toll-free motorway access to the rest of Spain; and to the French border through the Autovía A-8 that intersects with the Autovía A-6 near Lugo. Nearby Autopista AP-9 connects the airport directly to A Coruña (66 km), Ferrol (88 km), Pontevedra (75 km), Vigo (100 km) and the Portuguese border. Ourense (116 km) is reachable through the Autopista AP-53 that connects with the Autopista AP-9.

There are several major car rental companies at the airport. The airport has more than 5,000 short and long-term covered parking spaces in the new terminal building. In addition, there are several low-cost, long-term private parking facilities around the airport.

Bus services

A city bus service operated by Empresa Freire every 30 minutes connects the airport with the center of Santiago de Compostela, and the bus and train terminals in the city. From the station in Santiago de Compostela, private coach operators run direct services in a multiple daily basis to most cities and towns in Galicia, including A Coruña, Ferrol, Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra and Vigo, as well as long-distance services to the rest of Spain, and international services. In addition, three regional services link the airport directly to A Coruña, to Lugo, including several stops in the French Way of the Camino de Santiago, and to the A Mariña coastal area (home to As Catedrais beach) in the province of Lugo.

Rail

There are no rail facilities at the airport. However the train station in Santiago de Compostela, located 12 km. away, is connected to the airport by the city bus service every 30 minutes. There are combined available train+bus tickets to and from the airport. The train station in Santiago de Compostela has medium and long-distance high-speed Alvia and AVE services to most cities in Galicia, including A Coruña, Ferrol, Ourense, Pontevedra, Vilagarcía and Vigo; and further to Madrid Chamartín and the rest of Spain.

Foot and bike

The Camino de Santiago runs next to the runway of the airport. This is the busiest and final journey in the Camino de Santiago that goes through the famous Monte do Gozo. There are dedicated pathways for both pedestrians and bikers towards the city. The walking distance from the runway to the Cathedral is estimated at 10.90 km.

Accidents and Incidents
  • On 3 March 1978, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 operated by Iberia from Madrid–Barajas Airport with 211 passengers and 11 crew members, registration EC-BMX. The aircraft touched down far down the runway after a high approach, aquaplaned off the runway, dropped into a hollow 20m deep and caught fire. The crash was settled with 70 injured people, 10 of them seriously injured, and no fatalities.[10]
  • On 7 June 2001, a Beechcraft B300C Super King Air 350, registration F-GOAE, departed from Le Mans-Arnage Airport (LME), France, to Santiago De Compostela Airport (SCQ), Spain, on a cargo flight according to instrument flight rules. Near the destination airport, the meteorological conditions were reported to be good, and the crew requested a visual approach to runway 17, even though the active runway was 35. Once cleared to land, the aircraft encountered a fog patch and from this moment it began a high ate descent (2000 to 3000 ft/min). A minute after entering an unexpected and unforeseen fog patch, the aircraft struck some trees in level flight and with an airspeed of 148 kt. The wings and engines detached from the fuselage, and they dragged along a scrubland area until they came to a stop. The crew suffered minor injuries and the aircraft was completely destroyed.[11]
  • On 2 August 2012, an Airnor Cessna 500 Citation I, registration EC-IBA, flying from Asturias crashed whilst on approach to the airport with the loss of both crew members.[12]

References
  1. Deaño Santiago, Carlos (12 March 2020). "Rebautizo oficial del aeropuerto como Rosalía de Castro". El Correo Gallego. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  2. "Miles de presos construyeron obras civiles y militares en Galicia hasta 1960". 13 March 2010.
  3. History of Santiago de Compostela Airport
  4. "Airline memorabilia: Viasa (1995), España". 10 August 2011.
  5. New Terminal
  6. New Terminal Expansion
  7. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en
  8. "Annual Statistics" (in Spanish). Aena Aeropuertos S.A. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  9. Estadísticas aena-aeropuertos.
  10. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 EC-BMX Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ)".
  11. "ASN Aircraft accident Beechcraft B300C Super King Air 350 F-GOAE Santiago de Compostella (SCQ)".
  12. Santiago de Compostela accident

Media related to Santiago de Compostela Airport at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.