Béziers Cap d'Agde Airport
Encyclopedia
Béziers Cap d'Agde Airport is an airport
serving the town of Béziers
and the nearby Languedoc
coastal resorts such as Cap d'Agde
. The airport is located 11.5 km (6.2 NM) east-southeast of Béziers, near Vias
in the Hérault
department. It was previously known as Béziers-Vias Airport.
The airport handles commercial national flights as well as private, non-regular air traffic. After a runway expansion completed in 2007, daily direct flights to Paris
Orly
and seasonal services to Bastia
were augmented by Ryanair
flights to and from Bristol International Airport
, which commenced March 2008. On 24 March 2008, it was announced that during the summer months Ryanair flights would also operate to and from London Stansted with a possibility of being extended should they prove successful. Further flights from Béziers to London Luton Airport
were announced in June 2008 and these commenced twice a week from October 2008. In addition, Cimber Air operates a summer service to and from Odense
, Denmark
.
of 56 feet (17 m) above mean sea level. It has one paved runway
designated 10/28 with an asphalt
surface measuring 2000 by 45 m (6,561.7 by 147.6 )
The runway is equipped with ILS
.
Because of its comparatively short runway measuring 1820 metre, the airport was unable to benefit from the growth of low-cost flights that had fuelled expansion at other airports in the region (Carcassonne, Perpignan, Montpellier and Nîmes). For some years there were plans to extend the runway and this work was finally carried out between November 2006 and February 2007. The new runway is capable of handling the Boeing 737
-sized jets favoured by low cost carriers.
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...
serving the town of Béziers
Béziers
Béziers is a town in Languedoc in southern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Hérault department. Béziers hosts the famous Feria de Béziers, centred around bullfighting, every August. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event...
and the nearby Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
coastal resorts such as Cap d'Agde
Cap d'Agde
Cap d'Agde is the seaside resort of the town of Agde, France, on the Mediterranean sea in the département of Hérault, within the région of Languedoc-Roussillon. Agde can be reached by TGV SNCF train direct from Paris or Lille whilst the closest airports are Béziers-Cap d'Agde en Languedoc, with...
. The airport is located 11.5 km (6.2 NM) east-southeast of Béziers, near Vias
Vias, Hérault
Vias is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon southern France.It is a popular holiday destination with many camp and caravan sites...
in the Hérault
Hérault
Hérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
department. It was previously known as Béziers-Vias Airport.
The airport handles commercial national flights as well as private, non-regular air traffic. After a runway expansion completed in 2007, daily direct flights to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Orly
Orly
Orly is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The name of Orly came from Latin Aureliacum, "the villa of Aurelius"....
and seasonal services to Bastia
Bastia
Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....
were augmented by Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
flights to and from Bristol International Airport
Bristol International Airport
Bristol Airport , located at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area. At first it was named Bristol Lulsgate Airport and from March 1997 to March 2010 it was known as Bristol International Airport...
, which commenced March 2008. On 24 March 2008, it was announced that during the summer months Ryanair flights would also operate to and from London Stansted with a possibility of being extended should they prove successful. Further flights from Béziers to London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
were announced in June 2008 and these commenced twice a week from October 2008. In addition, Cimber Air operates a summer service to and from Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 56 feet (17 m) above mean sea level. It has one paved runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
designated 10/28 with an asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
surface measuring 2000 by 45 m (6,561.7 by 147.6 )
The runway is equipped with 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...
.
Because of its comparatively short runway measuring 1820 metre, the airport was unable to benefit from the growth of low-cost flights that had fuelled expansion at other airports in the region (Carcassonne, Perpignan, Montpellier and Nîmes). For some years there were plans to extend the runway and this work was finally carried out between November 2006 and February 2007. The new runway is capable of handling the Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
-sized jets favoured by low cost carriers.