Bilbao Airport
Encyclopedia
Bilbao Airport is a public airport
located 9 km (5.6 mi) north of Bilbao
, in the municipality of Loiu
, in the Basque Country. It is the most important airport of the Basque Country
and northern Spain, with 4,172,903 passengers on 2008 (declined by 2.7% compared to 2007). It is famous for its new main terminal opened in 2000 and designed by Santiago Calatrava
.
, in October 1927 steps were taken by the Union of Public Works to establish an airport in Bilbao
. A Provincial Board was created to study the possible location of the airport. It was not until 1936 that the General Aeronautics Management authorised the installation of an airport in Sondika
. However, due to the many deficiencies of this site, the airport was not considered of interest. Bilbao is surrounded by mountains and a flat valley without significant population had to be found.
The construction works commenced during the Civil War
but during this time and until June 1937 the airport was only used as a base for military activities. In 1938, the second stage of the airport's development began. The council resumed procedures with the government to modify the primitive project of 1936 and the drafting of a new project was authorised and later approved by the General Management of Infrastructure.
In 1940, it was decided by common agreement with the local organisations affected to build a civilian airport in Sondika. The construction works progressed slowly and on the 19th September 1948, the airport was at last opened to daytime traffic with the establishment of an air path to Madrid
by Aviación y Comercio
, SA. Two years later, the terminal, named Carlos Haya after the well-known pilot from Bilbao, began to give service. At this time, the airport had an asphalt runway, the 11/29 (measuring 1440 by), another earth runway (measuring 1500 by), a taxiway, a passenger terminal, a tower control, a radio beacon, a direction finder as well as police, post office, weather, health, fuel and telephone services. In 1955, a taxiway was built to link the runway with the parking stands and terminal. An apron measuring 124 by, a hangar for the Royal Flying Club of Vizcaya and permanent facilities for Campsa were also built.
Between 1964 and 1965, an instrumental ILS landing system and a meteorological radio for storm detection were installed; the runway was extended to 2000 m (6,562 ft) and the apron to 12000 m² (14,351.9 sq yd). In 1975, the runway was surfaced and its orientation became 10/28 due to the change in magnetic declination. In 1977, the parking stand was extended, a link road was built and an ILS
system was installed. The runway 12/30, measuring 2600 m (8,530 ft) long, was opened the same year and the airport was classified as first category the following year. As a result of the population density of the area, approaching planes may have to fly over the extensive Derio
cemetery.
During the eighties, the ILS landing system entered into service for runway 10/28; the communication centre, passenger terminal and parking facilities were enlarged; and a fire service building and cargo terminal
were constructed.
On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz
, all passengers and crew died.
In 1996, a new taxiway with two rapid exits and a new aircraft parking apron were built. The works required the removal of tons of soil poisoned with lindane
residues. In May 1999, the new tower control was put into service, which allowed for a more centred vision of the airfield and at the same time facilitated airport operations. On the 19th November 2000, a new terminal area was opened in the north zone, consisting of a new terminal building, with a surface area of 32000 m² (38,271.7 sq yd), a car park with 3,000 parking spaces measuring 95000 m² (113,619.1 sq yd) and a north apron for aircraft parking to serve the new terminal area.
In February 2009 plans were announced to expand the terminal building, the facilities and the car parking so as to double the current capacity to 8 million passengers. The work will be finished in 2014 and cost €114 million.
The terminal has a sleek design, with two symmetrical "wings" and a sharp tip at its center which is specially visible when approaching the terminal from the sides. This original design has granted the building the nickname
of "La Paloma" ("The Dove"). White concrete and glass have been used. The interiors are open and luminous spaces, distributed in two floors, the upper one for departures (check-in counters and gates) and the lower for arrivals.
There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava
's design by Aena
, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed. In spite of this, modifications have taken place in 2005-2006 in the check-in area to provide enhanced shopping facilities for travellers, with almost double the retail space now being offered.
Basques using the airport widely complain about its lack of an arrivals area, since once passengers clear customs, they step directly outside. However, there is a dramatic viewing gallery raised above the baggage reclaim area, where those waiting to greet passengers can wait and watch as they collect their baggage and leave the terminal. There is often waving and excitement as relatives or friends scan to see each other from the gallery, and the architect cites this in defence of his design of the arrivals area.
Calatrava also designed the Zubizuri
bridge in Bilbao.
Like the terminal, it has been praised by its architectural looks and criticized for impracticality.
.
With the past increase of traffic, the terminal would have become saturated again in a year because it is designed to handle about 4.5 million passengers per year, in 2007 it went nearly to its maximum capacity. However, the global financial crisis of 2008 has reversed the situation as of early 2009, decreasing the number of passengers by 24% in January compared to previous year.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located 9 km (5.6 mi) north of Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, in the municipality of Loiu
Loiu
Loiu is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain.The new Bilbao Airport terminal has been built within the municipality limits.-External links:*...
, in the Basque Country. It is the most important airport of the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
and northern Spain, with 4,172,903 passengers on 2008 (declined by 2.7% compared to 2007). It is famous for its new main terminal opened in 2000 and designed by Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
.
History
After various aeronautic experiments in the province of BiscayBiscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
, in October 1927 steps were taken by the Union of Public Works to establish an airport in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
. A Provincial Board was created to study the possible location of the airport. It was not until 1936 that the General Aeronautics Management authorised the installation of an airport in Sondika
Sondika
Sondika is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain....
. However, due to the many deficiencies of this site, the airport was not considered of interest. Bilbao is surrounded by mountains and a flat valley without significant population had to be found.
The construction works commenced during the Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
but during this time and until June 1937 the airport was only used as a base for military activities. In 1938, the second stage of the airport's development began. The council resumed procedures with the government to modify the primitive project of 1936 and the drafting of a new project was authorised and later approved by the General Management of Infrastructure.
In 1940, it was decided by common agreement with the local organisations affected to build a civilian airport in Sondika. The construction works progressed slowly and on the 19th September 1948, the airport was at last opened to daytime traffic with the establishment of an air path to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
by Aviación y Comercio
Aviaco
Aviación y Comercio, S.A., was a Spanish airline incorporated on February 18, 1948. It was founded when the National Institute of Industry proposed that the national carrier of Spain, Iberia, could not meet the domestic demand. This had been caused by the heavy commitment of Iberia to the lucrative...
, SA. Two years later, the terminal, named Carlos Haya after the well-known pilot from Bilbao, began to give service. At this time, the airport had an asphalt runway, the 11/29 (measuring 1440 by), another earth runway (measuring 1500 by), a taxiway, a passenger terminal, a tower control, a radio beacon, a direction finder as well as police, post office, weather, health, fuel and telephone services. In 1955, a taxiway was built to link the runway with the parking stands and terminal. An apron measuring 124 by, a hangar for the Royal Flying Club of Vizcaya and permanent facilities for Campsa were also built.
Between 1964 and 1965, an instrumental ILS landing system and a meteorological radio for storm detection were installed; the runway was extended to 2000 m (6,562 ft) and the apron to 12000 m² (14,351.9 sq yd). In 1975, the runway was surfaced and its orientation became 10/28 due to the change in magnetic declination. In 1977, the parking stand was extended, a link road was built and an ILS
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
system was installed. The runway 12/30, measuring 2600 m (8,530 ft) long, was opened the same year and the airport was classified as first category the following year. As a result of the population density of the area, approaching planes may have to fly over the extensive Derio
Derio
Derio is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. It's part of Greater Bilbao and was part of the municipality of Bilbao until 1983 and hosts Bilbao's biggest municipal cemetery. It has a population of 5,107 .-External...
cemetery.
During the eighties, the ILS landing system entered into service for runway 10/28; the communication centre, passenger terminal and parking facilities were enlarged; and a fire service building and cargo terminal
Container terminal
A container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime...
were constructed.
On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz
Oiz
Mount Oiz , is one of the most popular summits of Biscay in the Basque Country . Its summits form part of a long range that feeds several rivers: Ibaizabal, Artibai, Lea, Oka and Deva in Gipuzkoa all of them running to the Bay of Biscay....
, all passengers and crew died.
In 1996, a new taxiway with two rapid exits and a new aircraft parking apron were built. The works required the removal of tons of soil poisoned with lindane
Lindane
Lindane, also known as gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, , gammaxene, Gammallin and erroneously known as benzene hexachloride , is an organochlorine chemical variant of hexachlorocyclohexane that has been used both as an agricultural insecticide and as a pharmaceutical treatment for lice and...
residues. In May 1999, the new tower control was put into service, which allowed for a more centred vision of the airfield and at the same time facilitated airport operations. On the 19th November 2000, a new terminal area was opened in the north zone, consisting of a new terminal building, with a surface area of 32000 m² (38,271.7 sq yd), a car park with 3,000 parking spaces measuring 95000 m² (113,619.1 sq yd) and a north apron for aircraft parking to serve the new terminal area.
In February 2009 plans were announced to expand the terminal building, the facilities and the car parking so as to double the current capacity to 8 million passengers. The work will be finished in 2014 and cost €114 million.
Design
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
of "La Paloma" ("The Dove"). White concrete and glass have been used. The interiors are open and luminous spaces, distributed in two floors, the upper one for departures (check-in counters and gates) and the lower for arrivals.
There has been some criticism of Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
's design by Aena
Aena
Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea , literally "Spanish Airports and Air Navigation", is the Spanish public body that owns and operates the majority of airports in Spain, with the exceptions of the private owned Ciudad Reals and Lleida-Alguaire Airport. Aena is also responsible for Air...
, the Spanish airport authority, because it seems difficult to make further enlargements in the terminal's capacity because the design is too closed. In spite of this, modifications have taken place in 2005-2006 in the check-in area to provide enhanced shopping facilities for travellers, with almost double the retail space now being offered.
Basques using the airport widely complain about its lack of an arrivals area, since once passengers clear customs, they step directly outside. However, there is a dramatic viewing gallery raised above the baggage reclaim area, where those waiting to greet passengers can wait and watch as they collect their baggage and leave the terminal. There is often waving and excitement as relatives or friends scan to see each other from the gallery, and the architect cites this in defence of his design of the arrivals area.
Calatrava also designed the Zubizuri
Zubizuri
The Zubizuri , also called the Campo Volantin Bridge or Puente del Campo Volantin, is a tied arch footbridge across the Nervion River in Bilbao, Spain...
bridge in Bilbao.
Like the terminal, it has been praised by its architectural looks and criticized for impracticality.
Traffic
The airport has seen a constant increase in its traffic numbers, the old terminal was already saturated and obsolete in 1990, although it had been renewed only a few years earlier. At the present day Bilbao is the most important hub in northern Spain and the number of passengers using the new terminal continues to rise, especially after the increased tourist interest in the city since the opening of the Guggenheim museumGuggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The...
.
With the past increase of traffic, the terminal would have become saturated again in a year because it is designed to handle about 4.5 million passengers per year, in 2007 it went nearly to its maximum capacity. However, the global financial crisis of 2008 has reversed the situation as of early 2009, decreasing the number of passengers by 24% in January compared to previous year.
Airlines and destinations
Statistics
| Passengers | Aircraft Movements | Cargo (tonnes) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.556.373 | 45.506 | 4.038 |
| 2001 | 2.491.770 | 44.166 | 3.674 |
| 2002 | 2.463.698 | 39.832 | 3.699 |
| 2003 | 2.850.524 | 44.009 | 3.813 |
| 2004 | 3.395.773 | 50.361 | 4.152 |
| 2005 | 3.843.953 | 56.285 | 3.956 |
| 2006 | 3.876.072 | 58.574 | 3.417 |
| 2007 | 4.286.751 | 63.076 | 3.230 |
| 2008 | 4.172.903 | 61.682 | 3.178 |
| 2009 | 3.654.957 | 54.148 | 2.691 |
| 2010 | 3.888.969 | 54.119 | 2.547 |
| Source: Aena Statistics Aena Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea , literally "Spanish Airports and Air Navigation", is the Spanish public body that owns and operates the majority of airports in Spain, with the exceptions of the private owned Ciudad Reals and Lleida-Alguaire Airport. Aena is also responsible for Air... |
|||
Public transport
- BizkaiBusBizkaiBusBizkaiBus is the name for bus services serving the province of Biscay, Spain. It is named after the Basque name of the province, Bizkaia. The buses can be identified by their distinctive yellow colour scheme....
: a bus line (3247) connects BilbaoBilbaoBilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
center (MoyúaMoyúaMoyúa or Elliptic square is a public square located in the center of Bilbao's extension, in the district of Abando. The square was conceived in 1876 as a central hub in the middle of Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro avenue, from where the main eight streets depart in radius-like shape and was...
square) and the city bus stationTermibusTermibus is the main bus station of Bilbao and it is located beside San Mamés Stadium. The bus terminal is linked to the San Mamés underground, tram and commuter rail station....
with the airport. The service frequency is every 30 minutes, from 5:25 am to 21:55 pm from Bilbao to the airport, and from 6:15 am to 24:00 pm from the airport to Bilbao. From March 16 to October 31 the frequency is every 20 minutes. The trip takes 15–20 minutes. - Lurraldebus: A bus operated by PESA http://pesa.es to Donostia-San SebastiánSan SebastiánDonostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
departs hourly at between 07:45 and 23:45. The trip takes approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. It's only stop is at Zarautz - adjacent to one of the town's two Euskotren stations (at the eastern end of the town). - Rail transportRail transportRail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
: It is planned to build a train connection between City Centre and the Airport.
Incidents & accidents
- On 19 February 1985, Iberia Flight IB610Iberia Airlines Flight 610On 19 February 1985, Iberia Flight 610 crashed into a television antenna at 3356 feet which was on the summit of Mount Oiz in Vizcaya near Bilbao. The flight took off from Madrid-Barajas Airport destined for Bilbao Airport. All 141 passengers and 7 crew died in the crash...
from Madrid crashed into Mount OizOizMount Oiz , is one of the most popular summits of Biscay in the Basque Country . Its summits form part of a long range that feeds several rivers: Ibaizabal, Artibai, Lea, Oka and Deva in Gipuzkoa all of them running to the Bay of Biscay....
. All 148 passengers and crew on board were killed.