Zaragoza Airport

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 the home of the Spanish Air Force 15th Group.

For Zaragoza Air Base, see Zaragoza Air Base.
Zaragoza Airport

Aeropuerto de Zaragoza
Summary
Airport typePublic and military
OwnerENAIRE
OperatorAena
LocationZaragoza, Aragón, Spain
Elevation AMSL263 m / 863 ft
Coordinates41°39′58″N 01°02′30″W
Websiteaena-aeropuertos.es
Map
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 18-19 4.4%
Movements10,797
Movements change 18-19 10.7%
Cargo (t)182,659
Cargo change 18-19 9.5%
Sources: AENA

History
Aerial view
Airport diagram

During the Cold War, the United States Air Force 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, and its pleasant weather. 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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Air Europa Palma de Mallorca
Binter Canarias Gran Canaria, Tenerife–North[1]
Blue Air Seasonal: Bucharest (begins 21 June 2022)[2]
Iberia Regional Seasonal: Ibiza (begins 22 July 2022)[3]
Ryanair[4] Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Charleroi, Lisbon (resumes 1 November 2022),[5] London–Stansted, Marrakesh, Palma de Mallorca, Vienna
Volotea Seasonal: Menorca, Venice (begins 30 May 2022)[6]
Vueling[7] Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Orly,[8] Tenerife–North
Seasonal: Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote (begins 19 June 2022)[9]
Wizz Air Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
AirBridgeCargo[10]Moscow–Sheremetyevo (suspended)
Air China Cargo[11]Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong, Tianjin
Atlas Air[12] Istanbul, Mexico City, Miami, Tel Aviv, Zhengzhou
Avianca Cargo[13]Amsterdam, Bogotá, Miami
Cargolux[14]Luxembourg
China Cargo Airlines[15]Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong
Emirates SkyCargo[16] Dubai–Al Maktoum, Mexico City, Quito
Ethiopian Cargo[17]Addis Ababa, Bogotá, Guangzhou, Liège, Mexico City, Miami
Qatar Airways Cargo[18]Beirut, Chicago–O’Hare, Dhaka, Doha, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Mexico City, New York-JFK, Quito
Saudia Cargo[19]Dammam, Riyadh

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at ZAZ airport. See source 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%)

Access

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. The 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.

References
  1. @BinterCanarias (19 February 2020). "Ampliamos nuestras frecuencias a..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. Bobon, Gabriel (27 October 2021). "Blue Air: Nouă rute noi din București, Iași și Cluj Napoca în vara anului 2022" [Blue Air: Nine new routes from Bucharest, Iasi and Cluj Napoca in the summer of 2022]. Boardingpass.ro (in Romanian).
  3. "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.
  4. "Flights". Ryanair.
  5. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/
  6. Saavedra, L. (31 January 2022). "Próxima parada, Venecia. Zaragoza tendrá vuelos a diez destinos internacionales desde mayo" [Next stop, Venice. Zaragoza will have flights to ten international destinations from May]. Aragón Noticias (in Spanish).
  7. "Home". Vueling.
  8. "Nuevo vuelo de Zaragoza a Paris Orly" [New flight from Zaragoza to Paris Orly]. Soy de Zaragoza.es (in Spanish). 30 September 2021.
  9. "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.
  10. "Our network". AirBridgeCargo.
  11. "Freight Network". Air China Cargo Co. Ltd.
  12. "Schedule". Atlas Air.
  13. "News". Avianca Cargo.
  14. "Network & Offices". Cargolux.
  15. "China Cargo Airlines flight CK218". FlightRadar24.
  16. "Air network". Emirates SkyCargo.
  17. "Cargo Network". Ethiopian Airlines. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  18. "Winter 2019 Freighter Schedule Issue 3: January to March 2020" (PDF). Qatar Cargo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2020.
  19. "Winter 2019-2020 Schedule". Saudia Cargo. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020.

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