Toulouse–Blagnac Airport

Toulouse–Blagnac Airport (French: Aéroport de Toulouse–Blagnac) (IATA: TLS, ICAO: LFBO) is an international airport located 3.6 nautical miles (6.7 km; 4.1 mi) west northwest of Toulouse, partially in Blagnac, both communes of the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of France. In 2017, the airport served 9,264,611 passengers.^[2] As of April 2017, the airport features flights to 74 destinations, mostly in Europe and Northern Africa with a few additional seasonal long-haul connections.^[3]

Toulouse Blagnac Airport Aéroport de Toulouse – Blagnac
IATA: TLS ICAO: LFBO
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	City of Toulouse
Operator	Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Toulouse
Serves	Toulouse Métropole
Location	Blagnac, Haute-Garonne, France
Opened	1 September 1939; 83 years ago (1939-09-01)
Hub for	Airbus Industrie
Focus city for	Air France easyJet Ryanair Volotea
Elevation AMSL	497 ft / 151 m
Coordinates	43°38′06″N 001°22′04″E / 43.63500°N 1.36778°E / 43.63500; 1.36778
Website	toulouse.aeroport.fr
Map
LFBO Location of airport in Occitanie region Show map of Occitanie LFBO LFBO (France) Show map of France
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 14R/32L 3,500 11,483 Asphalt concrete 14L/32R 3,000 9,843 Asphalt concrete
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 9,264,611 Passenger traffic change 14.6% Aircraft movements 95,192 Aircraft movements change 2.2%
Source: French AIP^[1] French AIP at EUROCONTROL<^[citation needed]

Both Airbus and ATR manufacture aircraft at nearby facilities and test them from the airport.

Facilities

 

Aerial view of the airport with the Airbus factory site in the foreground

 

Departures area

Terminal

The airport consists of one passenger terminal divided into four halls which provide 68 counters and 34 gates on 100,000 sqm floor space:^[4]

• Hall A features 14 check-in counters and eight aircraft stands for regional aircraft on domestic services.
• Hall B is the oldest area, opened in 1978, and contains 16 check-in counters and 10 gates.
• Hall C is equipped with 24 counters and 6 boarding gates for European destinations.
• Hall D is the newest addition to the airport, opened in 2010, and is used for international and long-haul services with 14 check-in counters and 10 boarding gates.

Runways

The airport is at an elevation of 499 feet (152 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt-paved runways: 14R/32L is 3,500 by 45 metres (11,483 ft × 148 ft) and 14L/32R is 3,000 by 45 metres (9,843 ft × 148 ft).^[1]

A Concorde formerly operated by Air France with the registration F-BVFC is preserved at the Aeroscopia Museum near the airport.^{[citation needed]} Airbus and ATR utilize runway 32L/14R for flight testing and delivery flights, while runway 32R/14L is used by commercial flights coming in to Toulouse (Airbus also uses this runway for formation flights).^{[citation needed]} Also, the Airbus Delivery Center is on the runway 32L/14R side.

Ownership

Toulouse–Blagnac Airport SA is a limited liability company; the share capital is €148,000 and it has authority to operate the airport until 2046 under a franchise agreement awarded by the French government. The current CEO is Philippe Crébassa.^[5]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Toulouse:^[3]

Airlines	Destinations
Aegean Airlines	Seasonal: Athens, Heraklion
Aer Lingus	Seasonal: Dublin
Air Algérie	Algiers, Oran Seasonal: Constantine
Air Arabia	Casablanca, Fès
Air Canada	Montréal–Trudeau
Air Corsica	Ajaccio Seasonal: Calvi, Figari
Air France	Algiers, Lyon, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Paris–Orly Seasonal: Athens, Calvi, Figari, Nice^[6]
Air Transat	Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau
APG Airlines	Lorient^[7]
Binter Canarias	Seasonal: Gran Canaria^[8]
British Airways	London–Heathrow
Brussels Airlines	Brussels
easyJet	Basel/Mulhouse, Bristol, Geneva, Lille, Lisbon,^[9] London–Gatwick, Lyon, Marrakesh, Nantes, Nice, Paris–Orly, Porto, Rennes Seasonal: Bastia, Faro (resumes 28 June 2023),^[10] Ibiza, Menorca, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes (begins 2 July 2023)^[11]
Iberia	Madrid
KLM	Amsterdam
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich
Nouvelair	Djerba,^[12] Tunis
Qatar Airways	Doha^[13]
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca, Marrakesh
Ryanair	Agadir,^[14] Alicante, Bergamo,^[15] Birmingham,^[16] Charleroi, Dublin, Edinburgh, Faro,^[17] Fès, Lisbon, London–Stansted, Malta, Marrakesh, Naples, Oujda, Porto, Rome–Fiumicino, Seville, Tangier,^[14] Valencia Seasonal: Bologna,^[18] Corfu, Figari,^[19] Ibiza, Kraków,^[20] Luxembourg,^[21] Menorca, Nador,^[22] Palma de Mallorca, Paphos,^[23] Rabat,^[24] Tenerife–South,^[25] Trapani, Treviso
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon
TUI Airways	Seasonal: Birmingham, Bristol,^[26] London–Gatwick, Manchester
Tunisair	Tunis
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul^[27]
Twin Jet	Metz/Nancy, Rennes^[28]
Volotea	Caen, Lille,^[29] Nantes, Strasbourg, Tenerife–South Seasonal: Athens,^[30] Ajaccio, Bastia, Cagliari, Catania, Corfu, Dubrovnik,^[31] Faro,^[32] Figari, Florence,^[33] Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria,^[34] Hannover,^[35] Heraklion, Lanzarote, Madrid,^[31] Málaga, Olbia,^[36] Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Prague, Santorini, Split
Vueling	Barcelona

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
UPS Airlines^[37]	Cologne/Bonn

Access

 

Tram connection to the airport

Tram

Since April 2015, the T2 tram line connects Toulouse with the airport every 15 minutes.^[38] The tram connects with metro ligne A at Arènes and metro ligne B at Palais de Justice. It takes about 35 minutes with a change to go to the town center by tram.

Bus and coach

Shuttle buses to Toulouse city centre stop outside Hall B every 20 minutes. Faster than the tram, they take approximately 20 minutes to reach the city centre, stopping at Compans-Caffarelli and Jeanne d'Arc (both on Metro Line B), Jean Jaurès (Metro Line A and B) and at Toulouse-Matabiau railway station.^[39] Three daily coach services^[40] connect Toulouse–Blagnac Airport to Andorra, which does not have its own commercial airport.

Accidents and incidents

• On 29 January 1988, Inter Cargo Service Flight 1004, operated by Vickers Vanguard F-GEJF, crashed when takeoff was attempted with only three fully operable engines.^[41]
• On 30 June 1994, an Airbus A330-300 performing a test flight crashed shortly after takeoff, due to a series of mistakes while conducting a flight test simulating an engine failure. All seven people on board died in the accident.^[42]
• On 15 November 2007, a brand-new Airbus A340-600 due to be delivered to Etihad Airways ran up and over the top of a concrete sloped blast-deflection wall during an engine test at the Airbus factory at the airport. This was due to the crew not following proper test procedures, raising all four engines to maximum thrust while the wheels were un-chocked. The attempt to steer away from the wall resulted in decreased braking power. Five people were injured and the aircraft was written off.^[43][44]

See also

• List of the busiest airports in France
• Boeing Everett Factory (in Snohomish County Airport) — in Washington state, United States

References

1. LFBO – TOULOUSE BLAGNAC. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 10 August 2023.
2. (in French). Toulouse Aeroport. n.d. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
3. "List of Destinations". Toulouse Airport. 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
4. "About Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)". World Travel Guide. n.d. from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
5. . Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
6. Liu, Jim. "Air France S20 Short-Haul Network additions as of 28JAN20". Routesonline. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
7. "APG Airlines". Toulouse Aeroport. n.d. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
8. Sena, GASTÓN (8 April 2021). "Binter Canarias desembarca en Francia e Italia". Aviacion Online.
9. "EasyJet lança 13 novas rotas a partir de Lisboa". Noticias ao Minuto. 27 July 2022.
10. "EASYJET NS23 NETWORK ADDITIONS SUMMARY – 30JAN23". Aeroroutes. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
11. "EasyJet ajoute Orly – Porto, Toulouse – Rhodes à son réseau | Air Journal". 9 February 2023.
12. "Toulouse Airport". Aeroports Voyages. n.d. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
13. "Qatar Airways confirms major network expansion and resumption of flights to 11 cities". Aviacionline.com. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
14. "Ryanair". Toulouse Aeroport. n.d. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
15. CLEMENT CHARPENTREAU (21 July 2021). "Passengers claim Ryanair flight left Toulouse without them". AeroTime. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
16. Atkin, Elizabeth (30 June 2022). "Ryanair launching 5 new routes from Birmingham to Europe". The Points Guy. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
17. "Ryanair abre 18 novas rotas em 2023 no Porto e em Faro devido a descida das taxas".
18. "Bologna : Ryanair apre Tolosa da dicembre" (in Italian). Italia Vola. 7 June 2022.
19. "Ryanair Launches Two New Domestic French Routes from Bordeaux and Toulouse to Corsica (Figari) This Summer". RyanAir. 3 March 2021.
20. "Ryanair Announces New Base Despite Warning Of Job Cuts". Simple Flying. 27 September 2019.
21. Burns, Justin (4 September 2019). "Ryanair starts new Luxembourg-Toulouse route". Airline Routes and Ground Services. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
22. "Ryanair route map | Our European destinations".
23. "Ryanair adds five new routes, increases airport presence (Updated) | Cyprus Mail". 21 November 2022.
24. "Winter schedule 2022/2023: Ryanair announces 7 new routes from Morocco". Moroccan Telegraph. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
25. AGUSTÍN MIGUENS (13 June 2022). "Ryanair announces its next winter season schedule in Spain". Aviacionline. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
26. "TUI Airways adds seasonal Bristol-Toulouse route in NW22". AeroRoutes. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
27. Schappig, Ben (9 April 2019). "Istanbul's New Airport Is A Hot Beautiful Mess". One Mile at a Time. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
28. "TwinJet NS23 Network Additions". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
29. "Aérien : Volotea : Lille relié à Nantes, Nice et Toulouse". Routard. n.d.
30. "VOLOTEA - Vuelos baratos, ofertas y billetes de avión a Europa". 23 December 2022.
31. Liu, Jim (3 December 2019). "Volotea S20 new routes as of 29NOV19". Routesonline. Routes Online. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
32. "Volotea étoffe son programme depuis Ajaccio, Deauville et Toulouse".
33. "E' base Volotea a Firenze". 3 November 2022.
34. "Volotea unirá Gran Canaria con tres ciudades francesas a partir de noviembre". La Vanguardia. 7 July 2022.
35. aviation.direct - "From Hannover: Volotea starts Toulouse" (German) 2 December 2022
36. "Volotea, è Olbia la più grande base italiana nel 2023. Scalza Venezia". 26 January 2023.
37. "UPS United Parcel Service". Airline Route Maps. n.d. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
38. "Public transport". Retrieved 12 August 2022.
39. . Toulouse Aeroport. 24 May 2010. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
40. "HOW TO GET FROM Toulouse Airport (TLS) to Andorra BY BUS OR CAR". Rome 2 Rio. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
41. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
42. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A330-321 F-WWKH Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
43. "F-WWCJ Final Report" (PDF). Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile. (PDF) from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
44. "Etihad Airbus Crashes Into Wall During Testing". Airline World. 16 November 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

External links

  Media related to Toulouse Blagnac International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• (Union des Aéroports Français) (in French)
• Radar Toulouse (Realtime flight tracker)
• Current weather for LFBO at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for TLS at Aviation Safety Network
• LiveATC.net (Toulouse)