Sion Airport
Sion Airport Aéroport de Sion | |||||||||||||||
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| Serves | Sion, Switzerland | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 483 m / 1,585 ft | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 46°13′10.53″N 7°19′36.35″E / 46.2195917°N 7.3267639°E | ||||||||||||||
| Website | sionairport.ch | ||||||||||||||
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  SIR Location of airport in Switzerland | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Sion Airport (IATA: SIR, ICAO: LSGS) (Military: LSMS) is the airport of the city of Sion, Switzerland[1] and is located 2.5 km southwest of Sion city in the Rhone Valley.[2] The airport opened in 1935.[3]
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines offer seasonal and seasonal charter flights at Sion Airport:[4]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Glaciers | Seasonal: St Tropez[5] |
| flyBAIR | Seasonal: Palma de Mallorca (begins 18 July 2020)[6] |
| Swiss International Air Lines | Seasonal: London–Heathrow[7] |
The nearest larger international airport is Geneva Airport, approx. 110 kilometres (68 mi) to the west, while the smaller Bern Airport is equidistant to the north. 25,992 passengers were travelling through Sion Airport in the year 2019.[8]
Military usage
The Swiss Air Force uses Sion as one of their four jetfighter air bases, the others being Payerne, Meiringen and Emmen. It is known as Flugplatzkommando 14 Sion. In addition to the prop-types Pilatus PC-6, Pilatus PC-7, Pilatus PC-9 and Pilatus PC-21 as well as helicopters it uses Sion intensively with the fighter jets F/A-18 and F-5 Tiger. It is the home base of the militia pilot unit Fliegerstaffel 19 Swans with F-5E. Sion Airport is, at both ends of the runway, equipped with retractable arresting gear devices (used by the F/A-18 and in case of a problem by the F-5).
Because of the redimension of the Swiss Air Force it is planned that the Air Force will leave Sion after 2017 and Sion will be used by civil aviation only, acting only as alternate airfield for the Air Force.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Priceline Archived 2008-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Piste25
- ^ http://sionairport.ch/a-propos-de-nous
- ^ sionaeroport.ch - Flights retrieved 26 December 2018
- ^ air-glaciers.ch
- ^ https://www.sionaeroport.ch/en/flights/
- ^ swiss.com - UK Flights Timetable retrieved 28 December 2019
- ^ https://www.sionaeroport.ch/en/figures-and-maps/
- ^ «L'aviation militaire à Sion après 2017? Pas exclu», 20Minuten, 17. September 2015
External links
Media related to Sion Airport at Wikimedia Commons
