Ciudad Real airport to close tomorrow

In an internal memo issued ten days ago, Aena, which operates the airport, told current airport users (owners and operators of privately owned aircraft) that no more flights would operate in or out of the airport from tomorrow until at least 31st May, although this deadline is expected to be extended.

Whilst the airport remains closed to air traffic, the authorities in charge of the installations there will have to carry out numerous maintenance tasks, like painting the runway with the required yellow crosses, so that pilots flying over the airport will know they cannot land there.

Since low-cost airline Vueling stopped operating out of Ciudad Real airport in December last year, the only flights in and out of the airport have been private ones, bringing people into the area to hunt.

The most recent data shows 407 private flights either landed or taken off at the local airport between October and February, coinciding exactly with the main hunting season.

The closing of the runway tomorrow is another step towards the definitive closure of Spain's first private airport, which has been operating commercial and private flights since December 2008, but which has never had large numbers of passengers passing through its terminal.  It has a 4,000 metre long runway, a 28,000 square metre terminal with a capacity for five million passengers and a cargo zone able to cope with up to 90,000 tonnes a year.