Gibraltar International Airport

Gibraltar International Airport

North Front Airport
Gibraltar International Airport; North Front Airport
	IATA: GIB; ICAO: LXGB GIBLocation of airport in Gibraltar;
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Government of Gibraltar
Serves	Gibraltar
Location	Gibraltar
Elevation AMSL	15 ft / 5 m
Coordinates	36°09′04″N 005°20′59″W / 36.15111°N 5.34972°W
Runways

Gibraltar International Airport or North Front Airport (IATA: GIB, ICAO: LXGB) is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the airport; currently the only scheduled flights operate to the United Kingdom. Passengers depart and arrive through the civilian-operated terminal. NATS hold the contract for provision of air navigation services at LXGB.

In 2004 the airport handled 314,375 passengers and 380 tonnes of cargo. Winston Churchill Avenue (the main road heading towards the land border with Spain) intersects the airport runway, so consequently has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs. The History Channel programme Most Extreme Airports ranks it as the fifth most dangerous airport in the world and the most dangerous in Europe.^[1]

EasyJet is currently the largest operator at Gibraltar International. It operates 11 weekly flights to London Gatwick and 3 weekly flights to Liverpool. Both routes are operated by an Airbus A319-200. Monarch currently operates 5 weekly flights to London Luton and 2 weekly flights to Manchester Airport. Both routes are operated by an Airbus A320-200. British Airways also flies daily into Gibraltar from London Heathrow being operated by an Airbus A320-200. Bmibaby also operate flights to East Midlands which is operated by a Boeing 737-300. The EasyJet route to Liverpool and the Bmibaby route to East Midlands will both cease in Autumn 2012.

Although located in Gibraltar, the airport is increasingly being used by people from or visiting neighbouring Spanish areas such as the Costa del Sol or the Campo de Gibraltar.

History

The airport was constructed during World War II upon the territory's race course (introduced by the Maltese), when Gibraltar was an important naval base for the British. Originally opened in 1939, it was only an emergency airfield for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. However, the runway was later extended by reclaiming some land from the Bay of Gibraltar using rock blasted from the Rock of Gibraltar while carrying out works on military tunnels. This last major extension of the runway allowed larger aircraft to land at Gibraltar.

Spain's continuing sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the territory where the airport stands (different from the generic one on Gibraltar itself) has seriously affected the airport's operations. On 2 December 1987, an agreement was signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain to allow the joint civil use of the airport.^[2] The agreement foresaw the building of a new terminal in the neighbouring Spanish municipality of La Línea de la Concepción adjacent to the northern side of the existing frontier. However, the agreement was blocked by the Government of Gibraltar, led from 1988 by Joe Bossano. As a result, the agreement was never implemented.

Since then, Spain successfully excluded Gibraltar from European wide de-regulation initiatives, preventing direct links from Gibraltar to the rest of the European Union (except the United Kingdom), on the grounds that no regulation that somehow recognises the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over the Gibraltar peninsula may be implemented without a previous agreement on the airport.

On 3 November 2003, Monarch announced a new route from Gibraltar to Manchester Airport.^[3] It is the first route from Gibraltar that operates to the North of the UK. However on 19 July 2006, Monarch withdrew the route due to the cost. On 21 April 2008, Monarch announced it was to resume the services from Gibraltar to Manchester with flights restarting on 12 September 2008. The route operates three to five times a week: every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in winter season, as well as on Thursdays and Sundays in the summer season.

By late 2005 and early 2006, the implementation of a new agreement was one of the main topics of the Gibraltar Trilateral Forum being held between the Governments of Gibraltar, Spain and the United Kingdom. As a result, the Córdoba Accord was signed on 18 September 2006 by all parties. This ended all discriminatory restrictions on civilian flights to Gibraltar International, including the prohibition of flights over Spanish soil, and exclusion of Gibraltar from all EU agreements on air transport, allowing civilian flights from all nations into Gibraltar International.^[4]

On 17 November 2006 Iberia announced that it would start flights from Madrid to Gibraltar using an Airbus A319 aircraft. This was a landmark move as no Spanish airline had flown to Gibraltar since 1979, because of its disputed status. Iberia began flights to Gibraltar International on 16 December 2006 with a flight from Madrid that included some members of the Spanish Government on board. GB Airways flew a one-off flight in the other direction with a group of children from the Gibraltar area making up the passengers. In May 2007 GB Airways (flying as a British Airways franchisee) also began operating the route between Madrid and Gibraltar, however, this was discontinued on 30 September, leaving Iberia to work the route alone. On 22 September 2008 Iberia announced that it would cease its flights to Madrid by 28 September due to "economic reasons", namely, lack of demand. This left Gibraltar, once again, without any air links with Spain.^[5]

In April 2009 Ándalus Líneas Aéreas restored Gibraltar's airlinks with the Spanish capital.^[6] In July 2009 Ándalus also began scheduled flights to Barcelona, increasing the destinations in Spain to two.^[7] However, the airline ceased to serve this route in September 2009 due to a lack of demand.^[8] In April 2010 it was confirmed that Ándalus flights to and from Gibraltar had been indefinitely suspended.^[9] And now yet again, Gibraltar has no direct air links to Spain. Ándalus Líneas Aéreas ceased operations on 13 August 2010.

In December 2010, EasyJet announced a new route from Gibraltar to Liverpool. This is the first time that an airline has operated a flight from Liverpool to Gibraltar. The route will operate on a Tuesday, Thursday and a Saturday, probably to reduce delays at the airport and clashes with Monarch flights to Manchester. However the route will cease in October 2012 due to lack of demand.

On 18 May 2011, Bmibaby announced that it would launch flights from Gibraltar to East Midlands from 31 March 2012. This is the first time that an airline has operated a flight from East Midlands to Gibraltar. The route operates on a Tuesday, Thursday and a Saturday and is operated by a Boeing 737-300. However on 3 May 2012 it was announced that all Bmibaby flights from 10 September would be cancelled.

On 10 January 2012, Gibraltar was selected as one of the World's Scariest Airport Landings and Take-offs in the travel section of The Daily Telegraph due to its relatively short runway which extends into the sea.^[10]

On 14 August 2012, Monarch Announced that they were to launch a new route to Birmingham, operating three times a week; every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.^[11]

Panoramic photograph of Gibraltar International Airport, with time-lapse showing an aircraft take-off.

Terminals

There are currently two terminals at Gibraltar International, the Old terminal and the New terminal. Currently the Old terminal is used for departures and the new terminal is used for arrivals as Phase 2 of the new terminal is yet to open. Flight departures are due to move into the new terminal on 26 September 2012.^[12]

Old terminal

The old terminal at Gibraltar International is the smaller of the two terminals and for many years, it has been too small to cope with the number of passengers. The size of the terminal is 20,000 m² (220,000 sq ft), and has 10 check-in desks, 1 baggage carousel, 1 security gate and 2 departure gates. The departure gates then enable the passengers to board a bus which takes them to one of the new stands. On 26 November 2011, arriving flights switched to the new terminal as the first phase of the new terminal opened. Currently, departures continue to use the old terminal although the arrivals area is now out of use. The terminal will close on 25th September 2012 when departures move to the new terminal. The old terminal building will then be demolished to make way for a new car park.

New terminal

A new terminal has been constructed at Gibraltar International due to the high number of passengers using it. Planning permission was announced in 2007 with construction of the new terminal began in 2009 and was finished by 2011. The first phase of the new terminal opened on 26 November 2011 for arriving flights only. The second phase of the new terminal will open on 26 September 2012. The first flight to use it was EasyJet flight EZY7295 from Liverpool. The terminal's terrace was inaugurated by the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward on 13 June 2012.^[13]

The terminal is 35,000 m² (380,000 sq ft), which is 15,000 m² (160,000 sq ft) bigger than the old terminal. It has two baggage carousels and will have three gates, which don't have airbridges so passengers will have to walk into the terminal. The stands for these gates have been completed and all aircraft using Gibraltar International Airport now use these stands. However if the passengers are using the Old terminal, they are transported by bus from the old terminal. It will have a passenger capacity of up to one million per year.^[14]

Since the 2011 elections, the new government has sought to investigate the viability of operations between the two terminals. It was found to be at an unreasonable cost to the taxpayer and it has been proposed that the airport will be closed until it is fully completed. The decision was made by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia during a series of assessments on government projects.^[15]

General Aviation terminal

A new General Aviation terminal is also being built to handle private aircraft. it is being built adjacent to the New Terminal and is nearing completion.

New road access

The road across the runway is constraining to operations at the airport, especially with the increase in operations since the Córdoba Agreement. Prior to this agreement, only three flights operated daily to Gatwick and Luton, and three flights a week to Manchester. On busy days, at present, some seven flights now arrive and depart. If the average time the road is closed for an aircraft to land or depart is ten minutes, then on certain days the road can be closed for over two hours.

Because of this, a new four-lane diversion road and tunnel section was planned. The new runway tunnel will reduce delays and tailbacks caused by aircraft taking off and landing.^[16] Construction of the new road was due to begin in January 2008 and be completed by the beginning of 2009,^[17] however it is still not completed. The road across the runway will remain in place, for exceptional, specific or emergency use. But it will not be available for routine day-to-day, only for private vehicular traffic. Pedestrians will not be required to travel via the new road/tunnel, and will continue to cross the runway at the present location.

A new dual carriageway is also being built. It will pass under the new terminal and towards the eastern edge of the runway at which point it will pass through a tunnel under it and connect via a roundabout with Devils Tower Road on the opposite side of the runway. After the road tunnel on the north side of the runway the new road will run parallel to the frontier, passing under the air terminal fly-over section. The road will then branch into two, with one road leading to the loop and the frontier, and another leading to the Air Terminal, North Front and Winston Churchill Avenue.^[17]

New car parks

There will be several car parks built at Gibraltar International during its expansion. A new 220-space, three-storey car park located at the east of the new terminal. Another new car park will be built by Eastern Beach, and two multi-storey facilities will also be built on Devil's Tower Road.^[17] The old terminal building will also be demolished to make way for another new car park.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Bmibaby	East Midlands [ends 8 September 2012]
British Airways	London-Heathrow
EasyJet	London-Gatwick, Liverpool [ends 27 October 2012]
Monarch	Birmingham [begins 23 March 2013], London-Luton, Manchester

Gallery

British Airways aircraft landing at Gibraltar International Airport.
Air Malta plane parked at Gibraltar International Airport.
Former British Airways A320 in temporary EasyJet markings parked at Gibraltar International Airport.
Monarch Airlines A320 loading before departure to London Luton in March 2008.
A Monarch Airbus A320 at gate, bound for Luton.
Gibraltar International Airport departure lounge and boarding area.
Gibraltar International Airport control tower at the site of RAF Gibraltar.
View of the airport runway looking west from Winston Churchill Avenue.
Security barrier at the intersection of Gibraltar International Airport runway and Winston Churchill Avenue
Road leading to the new air terminal
New baggage area