Zaragoza Airport

For Zaragoza Air Base, see Zaragoza Air Base.

Zaragoza Airport (Aragonese and Spanish: Aeropuerto de Zaragoza; IATA: ZAZ, ICAO: LEZG) is an international airport near Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. It is located 16 km (9.9 miles) west of Zaragoza, 270 km (170 miles) west of Barcelona, and 262 km (163 miles) northeast of Madrid. In addition to serving as a major cargo airport, it is also a commercial airport and, as Zaragoza Air Base, is the home of the Spanish Air and Space Force 15th Group.

Zaragoza Airport Aeropuerto de Zaragoza
IATA: ZAZ ICAO: LEZG
Summary
Airport type	Public and military
Owner/Operator	Aena
Location	Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain
Elevation AMSL	263 m / 863 ft
Coordinates	41°39′58″N 01°02′30″W / 41.66611°N 1.04167°W / 41.66611; -1.04167
Website	aena-aeropuertos.es
Map
ZAZ Location within Spain
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 12R/30L 3,718 12,200 Concrete 12L/30R 3,024 9,921 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers 467,774 Passengers change 18-19 4.4% Movements 10,797 Movements change 18-19 10.7% Cargo (t) 182,659 Cargo change 18-19 9.5%
Sources: AENA [1]

History

 

Aerial view

 

Airport diagram

During the Cold War, the United States Air Force (USAF) used the facility as Zaragoza Air Base.

The construction work on Zaragoza Airport began in September 1954 with the enlargement and improvement of the existing Spanish Air Force Base located there. United States Navy engineers upgraded the facility for temporary or intermediate use as a war standby base. The first U.S. construction project included strengthening the existing 3,024 m (9,921 ft) runway and adding 304 m (1,000 ft) overruns at each end. Work on a new concrete runway, 61 by 3,718 metres (200 ft × 12,200 ft), with 61 m (200 ft) overruns at each end, began in 1956 and was completed in 1958.

Zaragoza was one of three major USAF Cold War airbases in Spain, the others being Torrejón Air Base near Madrid and Morón Air Base near Seville.

The airport was also used by NASA as a contingency landing site for the Space Shuttle in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL). Zaragoza was chosen as a NASA Space Shuttle TAL site due to its long runway, which needs be longer than 7,500 feet, its pleasant weather, and alignment with Shuttle launches to the high-inclination International Space Station orbit. The base also has a military-grade navigation system called a TACAN—"Tactical Air Navigation"—that can adapt to the special guidance devices NASA used with its shuttles.^[1]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Binter Canarias	Gran Canaria, Tenerife–North^[2]
Iberia	Seasonal: Gran Canaria,^[3] Ibiza,^[4] Menorca^[3]
Ryanair^[5]	Beauvais, Bergamo, Charleroi, London–Stansted, Marrakesh, Santiago de Compostela Seasonal: Bologna, Palma de Mallorca,^[6] Treviso^[7]
Volotea	Seasonal: Menorca
Vueling^[8]	Gran Canaria, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–North Seasonal: Lanzarote,^[9] Paris–Orly^[10]
Wizz Air	Bucharest–Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
AirBridgeCargo^[11]	Moscow–Sheremetyevo (suspended)
Air China Cargo^[12]	Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong, Tianjin
Atlas Air^[13]	Almaty, Amsterdam, Delhi, Istanbul, Liège, Mexico City, Miami, Riyadh, Seoul–Incheon, Tel Aviv, Zhengzhou
Avianca Cargo^[14]	Amsterdam, Bogotá, Miami
Cargolux^[15]	Luxembourg
China Cargo Airlines^[16]	Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong
Emirates SkyCargo^[17]	Dubai–Al Maktoum, Mexico City, Quito
Ethiopian Cargo^[18]	Addis Ababa, Bogotá, Guangzhou, Liège, Mexico City, Miami
Qatar Airways Cargo^[19]	Beirut, Chicago–O’Hare, Dhaka, Doha, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Mexico City, New York-JFK, Quito
Saudia Cargo^[20]	Dammam, Riyadh

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at ZAZ airport. See Wikidata query.

Zaragoza Airport – Traffic Information

Year	Passengers (change)	Movements (change)	Cargo tons (change)
2011	751,097 (+24.0%)	11,970 (-5.9%)	48,609 (+14.3%)
2012	551,406 (-26.6%)	9,268 (-22.6%)	71,094 (+46.1%)
2013	457,284 (-17.1%)	7,597 (-18.3%)	71,661 (+0.7%)
2014	418,576 (-8.5%)	7,039 (-7.3%)	86,311 (+20.4%)
2015	423,873 (+1.3%)	7,050 (+0.1%)	85,741 (-0.8%)
2016	419,529 (-1.0%)	7,269 (+3.1%)	110,564 (+29.0%)
2017	438,035 (+4.4%)	7,965 (+9.6%)	142,185 (+29.1%)
2018	489,064 (+11.6%)	8,991 (+12.9%)	166,834 (+17.3%)
2019	467,774 (-4.4%)	8,770 (-2.5%)	182,659 (+9.5%)
2020	172,344 (-63.2%)	6,559 (-25.2%)	143,600 (-21,4%)

Ground transport

Currently, the airport is connected to the city center by a bus line (501), which goes from the Puerta del Carmen square, downtown, to the airport, also stopping at the city's main railway station: Zaragoza-Delicias. This train station is an important hub for long-distance trains, AVE high-speed trains and the commuter line of Cercanías Zaragoza, which takes passengers underground through the city and overground in the metropolitan area. In February 2023, Zaragoza mayor's office confirmed plans to create a direct bus service "on demand" ^[21]from June 2023. This line will be serviced by electric buses to start and will significantly reduce journey distances and the duration (it will be about 12 or 13 kilometers depending on the direction). Schedules of these buses will be coordinated with those of the flights scheduled at the airport.

References

1. "Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) Sites" (PDF). NASA. December 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
2. @BinterCanarias (19 February 2020). "Ampliamos nuestras frecuencias a..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
3. "IBERIA NS23 DOMESTIC / SPAIN NETWORK ADDITIONS".
4. "Air Nostrum conectará Zaragoza e Ibiza en verano con dos frecuencias semanales" [Air Nostrum will connect Zaragoza and Ibiza in summer twice weekly]. Air Nostrum (in Spanish). 15 March 2022.
5. "Flights". Ryanair.
6. https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/230918-frnw23
7. "RYANAIR NS23 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 05DEC22".
8. "Home". Vueling.
9. "Vueling impulsa Lanzarote mejorando los horarios y con una nueva ruta a Zaragoza" [Vueling promotes Lanzarote by improving schedules and with a new route to Zaragoza]. Crónicas de Lanzarote (in Spanish). 3 February 2022.
10. "Nuevo vuelo de Zaragoza a Paris Orly" [New flight from Zaragoza to Paris Orly]. Soy de Zaragoza.es (in Spanish). 30 September 2021.
11. "Our network". AirBridgeCargo.
12. "Freight Network". Air China Cargo Co. Ltd.
13. "Atlas Air Schedule". Atlas Air. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
14. "News". Avianca Cargo.
15. "Network & Offices". Cargolux.
16. "China Cargo Airlines flight CK218". FlightRadar24.
17. "Air network". Emirates SkyCargo.
18. . Ethiopian Airlines. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
19. (PDF). Qatar Cargo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2020.
20. . Saudia Cargo. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020.
21. Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, Oficina de Participación, Transparencia y Gobierno. "La nueva línea específica al Aeropuerto de Zaragoza será operada con autobuses de hidrógeno por el grupo ALSA. Noticia. Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza". www.zaragoza.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-02-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

  Media related to Zaragoza Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in English and Spanish)
• Accident history for ZAZ at Aviation Safety Network
• Airport information for LEZG at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
• Current weather for LEZG at NOAA/NWS