Murcia–San Javier Airport is a military

air base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

and former civilian passenger

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located in San Javier, southeast of

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, Spain. It is owned by the

Spanish Air and Space Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

. It was replaced (after several delays) by the new

Región de Murcia International Airport Región de Murcia International Airport (IATA: RMU, ICAO: LEMI), informally also known as Murcia-Corvera, is an international airport in southeast Spain. It opened in January 2019 and replaced Murcia–San Javier Airport. It is situated between ...

, when it opened on 15 January 2019.

Overview

Operations

The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of a

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

. It has Category 5 fire cover by the IATA, and also has one ambulance available. The military air base dates back to at least the early 1930s and is located at the northern end of the airport. It is used chiefly by

Spanish Air and Space Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

turboprop, piston and jet-engined training aircraft of the

Academia General del Aire An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

(the Spanish Air Force College), including the aerobatic demonstration team of the Spanish Air and Space Force

Patrulla Águila (Spanish for "Eagle Patrol"), formed 4 July 1985, is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Spanish Air and Space Force. It is based at San Javier Air Base at the location of the academy of officers of the Spanish Air and Space Force, near Mar ...

which can often be seen practicing over the nearby Mar Menor. In recent years, Murcia Airport became much busier thanks to the arrival of several low-cost airlines. According to Aena, passenger numbers jumped from 88,608 in 1995 to 1,181,490 passengers in 2012.

Replacement

The airport invested in a new €60 million runway and terminal buildings around 2004 to 2011 In November 2011, the Minister of Public Works Antonio Sevilla, and Secretary of State for Transport Isaías Táboas, signed an official agreement that effectively proposed to close the airport to civilian air traffic from 2012. In November 2017, the Spanish government said it would be awarding AENA the contract of managing Corvera Airport - whereby San Javier would be closed and flights transferred. In April 2018, it was confirmed that the new

, which is situated in closer proximity to the city of Murcia, would open in January 2019. San Javier closed on 14 January 2019 and all airlines transferred their services to the new airport the following day. The final flight to operate at San Javier was Ryanair flight FR4117 to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Airlines and destinations

All operations transferred to

on 14 January 2019. Prior to this it was mostly used by leisure and low-cost carriers such as Jet2.com and Ryanair.

Statistics

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murcia-San Javier Airport Defunct airports in Spain Airports in the Region of Murcia San Javier, Murcia Airports disestablished in 2018