Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport

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Napoleon Bonaparte Airport
Tour controle ajaccio.JPG
Control tower
IATA: AJAICAO: LFKJ
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator CCI d’Ajaccio/Corse du Sud
Serves Ajaccio, France
Elevation AMSL 17 ft / 5 m
Coordinates 41°55′26″N 008°48′09″E / 41.92389°N 8.80250°E / 41.92389; 8.80250Coordinates: 41°55′26″N 008°48′09″E / 41.92389°N 8.80250°E / 41.92389; 8.80250
Website www.ajaccio.aeroport.fr/.../en
Maps
Corse region in France
LFKJ is located in Corsica
LFKJ
Location of the airport in Corse
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
02/20 2,407 7,897 Bituminous concrete
Source: French AIP[1]

Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport, Aéroport d'Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte, (IATA: AJAICAO: LFKJ), formerly Campo dell'Oro Airport, is the main airport serving Ajaccio on the French island of Corsica. It is located in Ajaccio, a commune of the département of Corse-du-Sud, 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the harbor.[1]

The airport is the main base of regional airline CCM Airlines, which operates services to continental France.

Contents

History [edit]

Campo dell'Oro before aviation was an alluvial plain at the mouth of the Gravona. The meaning of "Field of Gold" remains obscure; some 19th-century authors refer to a "rich cropland"; others, to a malaria-infested marshland. A grass flying field existed there before World War II but apparently offered no transportation services, as the first regular flights to Marseille began with the institution of a seaplane service in 1935 from Ajaccio Harbor.

In 1940 a Vichy Air Corp unit was kept inactive at Campo dell'Oro. The liberation of Corsica began with the landing by sea in 1943 of I Corps at Ajaccio in Operation Vésuve. A few months later Fighter Group GC2/7 of the Free French Air Force, a French unit of the Royal Air Force, were operational on the grass field at Campo dell'Oro with Spitfires. Heavy aircraft were unable to land and came to mishap in the soft surface.[citation needed]

In 1944 the United States Army Air Forces took over the airport and put down a hard surface of perforated metallic mats from which a squadron of P-51's flew.[2][3] They defended B-24's flying from new airfields constructed on the east coast of Corsica. Campo dell'Oro was a challenge for the larger aircraft because of its relatively short runways and proximity to the mountains. Toward the end of the war the runways were paved, the foundation of the modern airport. The Americans also made a concerted effort to eradicate malaria by infilling wetlands and spraying pesticides in coastal regions.[citation needed]

Airlines and destinations [edit]

Airlines Destinations
Air France Paris-Orly
Air Corsica Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris-Orly, Toulouse
Air France
operated by Brit Air
Seasonal: Montpellier, Nantes, Quimper
Air France
operated by HOP!
Seasonal: Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Geneva, Lille, Metz/Nancy, Strasbourg, Toulouse
Ak Bars Aero Saeasonal charter: Moscow-Domodedovo (begins 6 July 2013)[4]
EasyJet Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Seasonal: Geneva, London Gatwick, Lyon, Milan-Malpensa (begins 9 July 2013)
EasyJet Switzerland Seasonal: Basel/Mulhouse
HOP! Seasonal: La Rochelle, Poitiers, Limoges, Brive, Castres
Jetairfly Seasonal: Brussels
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Oslo
Transavia.com Seasonal: Amsterdam, Olbia
Volotea Bordeaux, Brest (begins 1 June 2013), Lille (begins 2 June 2013), Montpellier (begins 31 May 2013), Nantes, Toulouse – Blagnac Airport
XL Airways France Seasonal: Paris Charles de Gaulle

Other facilities [edit]

Air Corsica has its head office on the airport property.[5]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b LFKJ – AJACCIO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (PDF). AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 2 May 2013.
  2. ^ Office of Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence (1992). "The AAF in Southern France". The United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Headquarters, Army Air Forces Washington, D.C. (Center for Air Force History). Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-20. 
  3. ^ Long, Marc (March 7, 2007). "Calamity in Corsica". Aviation and Air Combat Articles. SimHQ. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-20. 
  4. ^ "Летом возобновятся чартеры из Москвы на Корсику". Travel.ru. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013. 
  5. ^ "Relations Clientèle." CCM Airlines. Retrieved on 12 February 2010.

External links [edit]