Santiago de Compostela Airport

Santiago de Compostela Airport Aeroporto de Santiago de Compostela Aeropuerto de Santiago de Compostela
IATA: SCQ – ICAO: LEST – WMO: 8041
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Operator	Aena
Serves	Galicia, Spain
Location	Santiago de Compostela
Focus city for	Ryanair Vueling
Built	1932
Elevation AMSL	1,213 ft / 370 m
Coordinates	42°53′47″N 08°24′55″W / 42.89639°N 8.41528°W
Website	aena-aeropuertos.es
Map
SCQ SCQ
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 17/35 10,499 3,200 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 2,296,248 Passenger change 14-15 10.2% Aircraft Movements 20,540 Movements change 14-15 5.7%

Control tower

747 Japanese Air Force One landing at the airport

Santiago de Compostela Airport (Galician: Aeroporto de Santiago de Compostela, Spanish: Aeropuerto de Santiago de Compostela) (IATA: SCQ, ICAO: LEST) is an international airport serving the autonomous community and historical region of Galicia in Spain. It is the 2nd busiest airport in northern Spain after Bilbao Airport.

The airport is located in the parish of Lavacolla, 13 km from Santiago de Compostela and handled 2,296,248 passengers in 2015. It is the main focus city of Vueling in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, and Ryanair's only focus city in Northern Spain. The Christian pilgrimage route of the Camino de Santiago runs near the airport.

History

The airport was set up by a group of aviation enthusiasts in October 1932 and two months directors were chosen to select where the airport was going to be built. In 1935 construction work started at the airport where two years later on 27 September 1937 the first scheduled flight from Santiago de Compostela took place. After the Spanish Civil war, political prisoners (who were held in the concentration camp of Lavacolla) were forced to work in the construction of the airport.^[1]

In 1969 a new terminal was built at the airport. It has had several expansions taking place since it opened. It closed in 2011 following a brand new terminal being built at the airport. In 1981, a cargo terminal was built, giving the airport capacity to handle cargo flights.^[2] During the 1990s, the airport had non-stop service to South America operated by Viasa.^[3]

On 13 October 2011 a new passenger terminal opened at the airport, replacing the old terminal, opened in 1969 and remodeled in 1993.

Terminal

The airport currently has one operating terminal. The Old terminal at Santiago de Compostela airport opened in 1969 and had lots of expansions during its lifetime. The terminal closed on the night of 13 October 2011 where operations transferred to the new terminal.

The New terminal at Santiago de Compostela Airport officially opened on 13 October 2011 and passenger operations transferred there the following day. It is adjacent to the old terminal and has a size of 74,000 sq m. It has 22 check-in desks, 3 security checkpoints, 13 gates of which 5 have airbridges and 4 baggage carousels. The baggage hall is split into two zones, one for Schengen flights and one for Non-Schengen. It can handle as much as 4 million passengers per year.^[4] The terminal is due to be expanded in the future. This includes adding another 5 airbridges to 5 of the current gates as well as 3 more baggage carousels and an expanded shopping area.^[5]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin
Air Europa	Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife–North, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca
easyJet	Seasonal: London–Gatwick
easyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva
Iberia operated by Air Nostrum	Bilbao, Tenerife–North Seasonal: Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Madeira (resumes July 27, 2017),[6] Palma de Mallorca
Iberia Express	Madrid
Lufthansa	Seasonal: Frankfurt (begins March 27, 2017), Munich (begins April 1, 2017)[7]
Ryanair	Alicante, Barcelona, Bergamo, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, London–Stansted, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Seville, Tenerife–South, Valencia Seasonal: Hahn
Swiss International Air Lines	Seasonal: Zürich
Vueling	Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, London–Gatwick, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Rome–Fiumicino, Tenerife–North Seasonal: Alicante, Amsterdam, Berlin–Tegel, Brussels, Ibiza, Menorca, Valencia, Zürich

Statistics

During the early 2000s, numbers increased significantly at the airport, from 1.2 million in 2002 to peak at 2.5 million in 2011. Because of the financial crisis in Spain, those numbers decreased to 2.1 million in 2014. Cargo has decreased significantly over the last ten years. The Spanish economic recovery in the mid-2010s and the raise of Santiago de Compostela as an international destination is increasing again the passenger numbers, growing to 2.3 million in 2015.^[8]

Traffic figures

Santiago de Compostela Airport Passenger Totals 2000-2015 (millions)

Updated: 14 January 2016.[8]

	Passengers handled	Passengers % Change	Aircraft movements	Aircraft % Change	Freight (tonnes)	Freight % Change
2000	1,332,893		19,660		6,773
2001	1,281,334	3.86%	19,084	2.92%	6,228	8.04%
2002	1,240,730	3.16%	17.362	9.02%	5,716	8.22%
2003	1,381,826	11.37%	18,454	6.28%	5,318	6.96%
2004	1,580,675	14.39%	21,593	17.00%	4,938	7.14%
2005	1,843,118	16.60%	25,693	18.98%	3,805	22.94%
2006	1,994,519	8.21%	24,719	3.79%	2,587	32.01%
2007	2,050,172	2.79%	24,643	0.30%	2,749	6.26%
2008	1,917,466	6.47%	21,945	10.94%	2,418	12.04%
2009	1,944,068	1.38%	20,166	8.10%	1,988	17.78%
2010	2,172,869	11.76%	21,252	5.38%	1,964	1.20%
2011	2,464,330	13.41%	22,322	5.03%	1,787	9.01%
2012	2,194,611	10.94%	19,511	12.59%	1,815	1.56%
2013	2,073,055	5.53%	18,688	4.21%	1,929	6.28%
2014	2,083,873	0.52%	19,431	3.97%	2,095	8.60%
2015	2,296,248	10.20%	20,540	5.70%	2,311	10.10%

Route statistics

Busiest domestic routes at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2015)^[9]

Rank	City	Passengers	% Change 2014 / 15	Carriers
1	Madrid	526.232	6.45%	Iberia Express, Ryanair
2	Barcelona	403.552	3.67%	Ryanair, Vueling
3	Palma de Mallorca	120.893	15.80%	Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Ryanair, Vueling
4	Valencia	100.158	16.69%	Ryanair, Vueling
5	Málaga	96.528	0.03%	Ryanair, Vueling
6	Tenerife (South)	88.621	0.61%	Air Europa, Ryanair
7	Gran Canaria	85.784	3.97%	Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Ryanair
8	Alicante	81.804	0.64%	Ryanair, Vueling
9	Sevilla	69.724	53.18%	Ryanair
10	Lanzarote	59.790	12.75%	Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Ryanair

Busiest International routes at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2015)^[9]

Rank	City	Passengers	% Change 2014 / 15	Carriers
1	Geneva	85.938	18.15%	easyJet Switzerland
2	London (Stansted)	74.981	9.23%	Ryanair
3	Frankfurt (Hahn)	42.358	9.40%	Ryanair
4	Basel	41.641	0.11%	easyJet Switzerland
5	Paris (Charles de Gaulle)	37.845	20.98%	Vueling
6	London (Gatwick)	37.220	10.36%	easyJet
7	Rome (Fiumicino)	32.396	321.32%	easyJet, Vueling
8	Milan (Bergamo)	32.173	10.72%	Ryanair
9	Zürich	30.953	62.10%	Swiss, Vueling
10	Dublin	29.228	1.39%	Aer Lingus

Busiest countries of destination at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2015)^[9]

Rank	Country	Passengers	% Change 2014 / 15	Scheduled Carriers
1	Spain	1.706.099	5.22%	Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Iberia Express, Ryanair, Vueling
2	Switzerland	158.498	18.75%	easyJet Switzerland, Swiss, Vueling
3	United Kingdom	114.719	3.20%	easyJet, Ryanair
4	Italy	65.001	63.65%	easyJet, Ryanair, Vueling
5	Germany	62.751	60.61%	Ryanair, Vueling
6	France	38.199	19.27%	Vueling
7	Ireland	29.228	4.28%	Aer Lingus
8	Belgium	18.672	1.85%	Vueling
9	Turkey	17.769	46.97%	Turkish Airlines
10	Netherlands	16.142	6.93%	Vueling

Busiest Carriers at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2015)^[9]

Rank	Carriers	Passengers	% Change 2014 / 15
1	Ryanair	1.020.966	8.77%
2	Vueling	481.526	38.29%
3	Iberia Express	297.582	5.67%
4	Air Europa	146.191	1.09%
5	easyJet Switzerland	127.480	11.88%
6	Air Nostrum	80.377	22.21%
7	easyJet	52.434	24.86%
8	Aer Lingus	29.367	1,87%
9	Turkish Airlines	17.769	46.98%
10	Swiss International Air Lines	13.662

Ground transportation

Road

The airport is linked with Santiago de Compostela (13 km) by the Autovía A-54. This motorway is currently being extended to Lugo (94.5 km) where it will connect with the Autovía A-6, providing toll-free motorway access to the rest of Spain; and to the French border through the Autovía A-8 that intersects with the Autovía A-6 near Lugo. Nearby Autopista AP-9 connects the airport directly to A Coruña (66 km), Ferrol (88 km), Pontevedra (75 km), Vigo (100 km) and the Portuguese border. Ourense (116 km) is reachable through the Autopista AP-53 that connects with the Autopista AP-9.

There are several major car rental companies at the airport. The airport has more than 5,000 short and long-term covered parking spaces in the new terminal building. In addition, there are several low-cost, long-term private parking facilities around the airport.

Bus services

A city bus service operated by Empresa Freire every 30 minutes connects the airport with the center of Santiago de Compostela, and the bus and train terminals in the city. From the station in Santiago de Compostela, private coach operators run direct services in a multiple daily basis to most cities and towns in Galicia, including A Coruña, Ferrol, Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra and Vigo, as well as long-distance services to the rest of Spain, and international services. In addition, three regional services link the airport directly to A Coruña, to Lugo, including several stops in the French Way of the Camino de Santiago, and to the A Mariña coastal area (home to As Catedrais beach) in the province of Lugo.

Rail

There are no rail facilities at the airport. However the train station in Santiago de Compostela, located 12 km. away, is connected to the airport by the city bus service every 30 minutes. There are combined available train+bus tickets to and from the airport. The train station in Santiago de Compostela has medium and long-distance high-speed Alvia and AVE services to most cities in Galicia, including A Coruña, Ferrol, Ourense, Pontevedra, Vilagarcía and Vigo; and further to Madrid Chamartín and the rest of Spain.

Foot and Bike

The Camino de Santiago runs next to the runway of the airport. This is the busiest and final journey in the Camino de Santiago that goes through the famous Monte do Gozo. There are dedicated pathways for both pedestrians and bikers towards the city. The walking distance from the runway to the Cathedral is estimated at 10.90 km.

Accidents and Incidents

• On 3 March 1978, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 operated by Iberia from Madrid–Barajas Airport with 211 passengers and 11 crew members, registration EC-BMX. The aircraft touched down far down the runway after a high approach, aquaplaned off the runway, dropped into a hollow 20m deep and caught fire. The crash was settled with 70 injured people, 10 of them seriously injured, and no fatalities.^[10]
• On 7 June 2001, a Beechcraft B300C Super King Air 350, registration F-GOAE, departed from Le Mans-Arnage Airport (LME), France, to Santiago De Compostela Airport (SCQ), Spain, on a cargo flight according to instrument flight rules. Near the destination airport, the meteorological conditions were reported to be good, and the crew requested a visual approach to runway 17, even though the active runway was 35. Once cleared to land, the aircraft encountered a fog patch and from this moment it began a high ate descent (2000 to 3000 ft/min). A minute after entering an unexpected and unforeseen fog patch, the aircraft struck some trees in level flight and with an airspeed of 148 kt. The wings and engines detached from the fuselage, and they dragged along a scrubland area until they came to a stop. The crew suffered minor injuries and the aircraft was completely destroyed.^[11]
• On 2 August 2012, an Airnor Cessna 500 Citation I, registration EC-IBA, flying from Asturias crashed whilst on approach to the airport with the loss of both crew members.^[12]

References

1. http://www.laopinioncoruna.es/galicia/2010/03/13/miles-presos-construyeron-obras-civiles-militares-galicia-1960/366159.html
2. History of Santiago de Compostela Airport
3. http://airline-memorabilia.blogspot.com/2011/08/viasa-1995-espana.html
4. New Terminal
5. New Terminal Expansion
6. Presstur.com, Iberia will fly from Santiago de Compostela do Funchal next Summer, 29.11.2016, in Portuguese
7. "Lufthansa conectará Santiago con Fráncfort y Múnich desde finales de marzo". La Voz de Galicia. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
8. "Annual Statistics" (in Spanish). Aena Aeropuertos S.A. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
9. Estadísticas aena-aeropuertos.
10. http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19780303-0
11. http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20010607-0
12. Santiago de Compostela accident

External links

Media related to Santiago de Compostela Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website