Lleida–Alguaire Airport

Lleida–Alguaire Airport

Aeroport Lleida-Alguaire
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGeneralitat of Catalonia
OperatorAeroports de Catalunya
ServesAndorra and Lleida
LocationAlguaire, Catalonia, Spain
Opened17 January 2010; 14 years ago (2010-01-17)
Elevation AMSL1,148 ft / 350 m
Coordinates41°43′40″N 000°32′09″E / 41.72778°N 0.53583°E / 41.72778; 0.53583
Websiteaeroportlleida.cat/en/
Map
ILD is located in Catalonia
ILD
ILD
Location of the airport within Catalonia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 2,500 8,202 Asphalt

Lleida–Alguaire Airport (IATA: ILD, ICAO: LEDA) (Catalan: Aeroport de Lleida-Alguaire, Spanish: Aeropuerto de Lérida-Alguaire) is an airport located in Alguaire, Catalonia, Spain; about 15 km (9.3 mi) from the centre of Lleida and about 150 km (93 mi) from the centre of Barcelona.

History

Lleida–Alguaire was designed as a regional airport to provide both passenger and cargo transport to Western Catalonia (the Ponent region and Catalan Pyrenees), Andorra and some counties (comarques) in La Franja.[2] The airport construction project had a budget of 130 million euro and it was the first airport built and owned by the Generalitat of Catalonia, via its public-capital company Aeroports de Catalunya. It is also one of the few Spanish airports not owned by Aena.

The original plan intended for the full redevelopment of the already existing Alfés aerodrome located south of Lleida but due to pressure from ecologist groups this plan never materialised. It was later decided to locate the airport north of the city next to the future A-14 highway because of its convenience. Together the airport and the highway, which ends abruptly a few kilometres north of the airport, have caused endless amounts of controversy over the years as locals consider both projects as fake promises and embezzlement of public funds.

The airport was inaugurated on the 17 of January 2010 with the arrival of an Airbus A320 from Barcelona operated by Vueling, onboard traveled members of the Catalan authorities and the press.

Since then, following the success from other spanish airports like Teruel Airport, Lleida-Alguaire has been working to position itself as an aircraft maintenance and aircraft storage facility, as well as cooperating with both public and private research projects. In recent years, the airport has also gained popularity as a flight training location.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Iberia[3] Palma de Mallorca
Seasonal: Ibiza, Menorca

Statistics

Lleida Airport Passenger Totals 2010-2016 (x10.000)
Updated: 8 March 2018.
Airport Entrance

The following table shows total passenger numbers at Lleida–Alguaire Airport from 2010 to date.

Year Passengers (thousands)
2010 62
2011 33
2012 33
2013 29
2014 30
2015 30
2016 33
Source: Aeroports de Catalunya

Ground transportation

Two new highways, the Autovías A-14 and A-22, provide road access to the airport.

References

  1. ^ "Airline and Airport Code Search". International Air Transport Association.
  2. ^ "Lleida to Paris in 90 minutes". InfoCatalunya bulletin of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  3. ^ aeroportlleida.cat retrieved 6 April 2022

Media related to Lleida Alguaire Airport at Wikimedia Commons


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