Zaragoza Airport

Zaragoza Airport Aeropuerto de Zaragoza
Zaragoza Airport from the air
IATA: ZAZ – ICAO: LEZG
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner/Operator		Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea
Location		Zaragoza, Spain
Elevation AMSL		263 m / 863 ft
Coordinates		41°39′58″N 01°02′30″W
Website		aena-aeropuertos.es
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
12R/30L	3,718	12,200	Concrete
12L/30R	3,024	9,921	Asphalt

Airport diagram

Zaragoza Airport (IATA: ZAZ, ICAO: LEZG) is a commercial airport near Zaragoza, 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 commercial airport, Zaragoza is the home of the Spanish Air Force 15th Group. The airport is also used by NASA as a contingency landing site for the Space Shuttle in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL).

History

During the Cold War, the United States Air Force 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 × 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.

Zaragoza was a NASA Space Shuttle alternate landing site to be chosen as a TAL site, an air base has to meet a number of requirements. For starters, its runway needs to be a minimum of 7,500 feet long. Not surprisingly, the weather around the base should typically be nice, as well. The base also must have a military-grade navigation system called a TACAN, which stands for Tactical Air Navigation, and be adaptable to special guidance devices NASA uses with the shuttles.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Air Europa	Palma de Mallorca
Orbest Orizonia Airlines	Lanzarote, Tenerife-South
Ryanair	Bologna [ends 24 March], Brussels-Charleroi, Gran Canaria [ends 24 March], Lanzarote, London-Stansted, Milan-Bergamo, Paris-Beauvais, Rome-Ciampino [ends 24 March], Seville, Tenerife-South [ends 23 March]
Wizz Air	Bucharest-Băneasa [ends 24 March], Bucharest-Henri Coandă [begins 27 March], Cluj Napoca

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
AirBridgeCargo Airlines	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
British Airways World Cargo	Bahrain, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London-Stansted, Nairobi
Cathay Pacific Cargo	Amsterdam, Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong
Emirates SkyCargo	Bahrain, Dubai
Korean Air Cargo	Brussels, Navoi, Seoul-Incheon
TNT Airways	Liege

Traffic

Zaragoza Airport – Traffic Information

Year	Passengers (change)	Movements (change)	Cargo tons (change)
2002	228,557 (+2.9%)	10,655 (+1.9%)	3,145 (+43.3%)
2003	228,069 (-0.2%)	10,748 (+0.9%)	8,366 (+166.0%)
2004	215,213 (-5.6%)	9,386 (-12.7%)	9,168 (+9.6%)
2005	381,849 (+77.4%)	9,906 (+5.5%)	3,855 (-58.0%)
2006	435,881 (+14.2%)	11,408 (+15.2%)	5,933 (+53.9%)
2007	512,184 (+17.5%)	14,757 (+29.4%)	20,151 (+239.6%)
2008	594,952 (+16.2%)	14,584 (-1.2%)	21,439 (+6.4%)
2009	528,313 (-11.2%)	12,746 (-12.6%)	36,936 (+72.3%)
2010	605,912 (+14.7%)	12,711 (-0.3%)	42,545 (+15.3%)
2011	751,097 (+24.0%)	11,970 (-5.9%)	48,609 (+14.3%)

External links

• Official website (English) (Spanish)
• Zaragoza Airport Info
• Accident history for ZAZ at Aviation Safety Network
• Airport information for LEZG at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
• Current weather for LEZG at NOAA/NWS
• Airport information for LEZG at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.