LEGE
History
The airport was built in 1965, but passenger traffic was modest.
The early 2000s saw passenger numbers grow spectacularly after Ryanair chose Girona as one of its European hubs, marketing it as 'Barcelona-Girona'. In 1993, Girona Airport dealt with only 275,000 passengers; in the six years from 2002 to 2008 passenger numbers increased by nearly ten times from just over 500,000 to more than 5.5 million, but after Ryanair began to move their Barcelona operations from Girona to the larger El Prat International Airport, half of these were lost again in the next 4 years until 2012 with only 2.8 million passengers. 2014 saw less than 2.2 million passengers pass through the airport. In 2016 it carried just 1.6 million passengers.
Facilities
The airport consists of one two-storey passenger terminal building. On the ground floor there are 33 check-in desks, with 11 boarding gates on the first floor for both domestic and international flights. Food is available in the departures area of the airport, as well as a few shops.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Girona:
Statistics
| Year | Passengers |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 533,445 |
| 1998 | 610,607 |
| 1999 | 631,235 |
| 2000 | 651,402 |
| 2001 | 622,410 |
| 2002 | 557,187 |
| 2003 | 1,448,796 |
| 2004 | 2,962,988 |
| 2005 | 3,533,567 |
| 2006 | 3,614,223 |
| 2007 | 4,848,604 |
| 2008 | 5,507,294 |
| 2009 | 5,286,970 |
| 2010 | 4,863,785 |
| 2011 | 3,007,649 |
| 2012 | 2,844,571 |
| 2013 | 2,736,867 |
| 2014 | 2,160,646 |
| 2015 | 1,775,318 |
| 2016 | 1,664,763 |
| 2017 | 1,946,816 |
| 2018 | 2,019,876 |
| 2019 | 1,932,255 |
| Source: Aena Statistics | |
Busiest routes
| Rank | Destination | Passengers | Change 2022 / 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  London-Stansted
|
152,112 |  50%
|
| 2 |  Charleroi
|
123,701 | 19%
|
| 3 |  Pisa
|
100,316 | 21%
|
| 4 |  Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden
|
89,984 | 17%
|
| 5 | Weeze
|
78,488 | 50%
|
| 6 | Bristol
|
66,563 | 15%
|
| 7 | Manchester
|
63,735 | 26%
|
| 8 |  Rotterdam/The Hague
|
62,086 | 16%
|
| 9 | Birmingham
|
61,552 | 121%
|
| 10 | Amsterdam
|
59,163 | 17%
|
| 11 |  Dublin
|
52,265 |  9%
|
| 12 | Leeds/Bradford
|
47,829 | 3%
|
| 13 | Memmingen
|
47,561 | 33%
|
| 14 |  Kraków
|
46,082 | 26%
|
| 15 | Bournemouth
|
44,409 | 24%
|
| 16 | Nuremberg
|
40,973 | 12%
|
| 17 | Wrocław
|
40,132 | 36%
|
| 18 | Belfast-International
|
39,313 |  New Route
|
| 19 |  Beauvais
|
33,702 | 22%
|
| 20 | Cork
|
30,180 | 15%
|
| Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo | |||
Ground transportation
Along with being an alternative option to Barcelona Airport, Girona Airport is convenient for the resorts along the Costa Brava, such as Lloret de Mar, l'Estartit and Blanes. It is about a 40-minute drive from the French border and many people use Girona Airport as a way of getting to the Pyrenees and the ski resorts of Andorra.
By car
The airport is served by three main roads:
- E-15/AP-7 (Perpignan, France – south of Spain)
- C-25 (Lleida – Vic – Girona)
- N-II, (Madrid – Barcelona – Perpignan, France)
By bus
There are six bus lines operating in the airport to:
- Barcelona (departure times depend on flight schedule, journey time: approx. 75 min, single ticket: €19.50)
- Costa Brava/Maresme (stops at Tossa de Mar, Lloret de Mar, Blanes, Malgrat de Mar, Santa Susanna, Pineda de Mar and Calella de la Costa)
- North Costa Brava (stops at Figueres, Roses, Pineda de Mar, Calella de Palafrugell and Tossa de Mar)
- Girona (25 minutes, one every hour)
- Perpignan in France
- Andorra
By train
The closest main line railway station to the airport is in Girona. The closest railway station is in fact Riudellots Halt, 4 km (2.5 mi) away from the airport. There is a project to build a station for the AVE line LGV Perpignan–Figueres, which passes within a few hundred meters of the terminal.
Incidents and accidents
- On 14 September 1999, at 21:47 UTC, a Boeing 757-204 charter flight from Cardiff, Wales, UK, with 236 passengers and 9 crew overshot the runway when landing in a storm and broke apart. After leaving the runway, it ran 343 metres (1,125 ft) across flat grassland beside the runway, before going diagonally over a substantial earth mound adjacent to the airport boundary, becoming semi-airborne as a result. Beyond the mound it hit and severed a number of medium-sized trees and the right engine struck the boundary fence. The aircraft then yawed considerably to the right, passed through the fence, landed again in a field, and its main landing gears collapsed. It finally stopped after a 244-metre (800 ft) slide across the field. Damage was substantial: the fuselage was broken in two places and the landing gear and both engines detached. Remarkably, there were no immediate fatalities but 44 people, including the aircraft's captain, received hospital treatment for severe to minor injuries. One elderly passenger died a week later.
References
- ^ Informes Anuales – 2012 [1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) – AENA - ^ "Spanish AIP (AENA)". Archived from the original on 7 March 2012.
- ^ Distanse from Girona–Costa Brava Airport to Sagrada Família in center of Barcelona - Google Maps
- ^ "AENA Girona-Costa Brava Historia". Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ^ "AENA passenger statistics and aircraft movements".
- ^ "Girona-Costa Brava Airport Guide (GRO)". www.gironaairport.net.
- ^ aena.es - Destinos retrieved 21 May 2017
- ^ https://www.msn.com/fr-fr/voyage/actualite/air-arabia-trois-nouvelles-liaisons-directes-entre-le-maroc-et-l-europe-d%C3%A8s-octobre-2024/ar-BB1qsTRW?ocid=BingNewsSerp
- ^ "Coral Travel". coraltravel.pl.
- ^ "Jet2's Bristol Airport base will bring 450,000-holiday seats". ukaviation.news. 11 November 2020.
- ^ McNeill, Linsey (24 September 2024). "Jet2 'to launch raft of new routes' for summer '26 - Travel Gossip". Travel Gossip.
- ^ "Jet2.com and Jet2holidays expand 'significantly' at three airports for 2023". Travel Weekly.
- ^ "Jet2 Expands Luton Airport Routes with Direct Flights to Girona, Verona, and Madeira, Enhancing European Travel Access". 16 November 2024.
- ^ "Jet2 NS25 A321neo Network Expansion – 14JUL24".
- ^ "Ryanair NS23 Network Additions Summary – 26MAR23". Aeroroutes.
- ^ "Ryanair Morocco NS24 Network Expansion". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "Ryanair UK NS24 Boeing 737 MAX Preliminary Network – 17DEC23".
- ^ "Ryanair NW23 Network Changes – 17SEP23".
- ^ "Ryanair May – Oct 2023 Italy Frequency Variations – 14MAY23". Aeroroutes.
- ^ "NY rute fra Aalborg og til Girona og Costa Brava-kysten". 29 December 2023.
- ^ "Ryanair".
- ^ "Ryanair NS24 Network Additions Summary – 14JUL24".
- ^ "Ryanair nie zwalnia tempa. 4 kolejne nowe trasy z Polski – dwie z nich mogą was zszokować!".
- ^ https://www.goedkoopvliegenclub.nl/
- ^ "Ryanair expanduje v Česku, přidává spojení z Brna, Ostravy i Pardubic" (in Czech). 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Ryanair verbindet neu Paderborn/Lippstadt und Girona". 6 December 2023.
- ^ "Ryanair posílí i v Pardubicích, přidá linku na letiště Girona–Costa Brava". 5 December 2023.
- ^ "RYANAIR NS24 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 10DEC23". Aeroroutes. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "Flight Timetable". tui.co.uk.
- ^ "Inicio". aena.es. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ "Girona airport guide". www.travelguide.barcelona. 17 July 2024.
- ^ "Recorrido". horarios.renfe.com.
- ^ "Special Bulletin S1/2000 – Boeing 757-204, G-BYAG" (PDF). Air Accidents Investigation Branch. 2000. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2006.
- ^ "BBC report of air crash". BBC. 16 September 1999.
- ^ https://www.msn.com/fr-fr/voyage/actualite/air-arabia-trois-nouvelles-liaisons-directes-entre-le-maroc-et-l-europe-d%C3%A8s-octobre-2024/ar-BB1qsTRW?ocid=BingNewsSerp
External links
Media related to Girona-Costa Brava Airport at Wikimedia Commons
