Ceuta Heliport

Overview

Since 9 January 2004, it was possible to fly to Ceuta from Málaga by helicopter. This heliport is the first in Spain to be constructed and managed by AENA in order to secure accessibility to the autonomous city by air. A rapid connection with the mainland is considered vital for the development of the Ceutan economy.

The heliport is situated in the port of Ceuta, between the cargo dock and the fishing port, on land reclaimed from the sea in the north of the city. The heliport consists of three helipads, a short runway, a two-storey terminal building, a power station and a fire station.

This infrastructure is key to Ceuta because it allowed passengers to connect in minutes through Málaga (peninsular Spain's third airport), giving Ceuta access to almost all cities served from Andalucia. Destinations include more than one hundred cities in Europe (mainly in the United Kingdom, Central Europe and the Nordic countries, but also the main cities of Eastern Europe: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Sofia, Warsaw, Riga and Bucharest), North Africa, the Middle East (Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait) and North America (New York City, Toronto and Montreal).

The former ICAO code of Ceuta is GECT. It has changed in mid-2009.

Statistics

In its second year of operation, the heliport served 20,233 passengers, handled 2,656 operations and 4.6 tonnes of cargo.

Routes and services

The route was covered by Helicópteros del Sureste, a transport company based in Mutxamel, Alicante. The regular service operated since 1996, linking the city of Ceuta with Málaga Airport in thirty minutes. This route serves more than 20,000 annually, in approximately 2,600 flights. The helicopters used were the most recent versions of the AW139 which have a capacity of up to 15 passengers. It is due to become the main destination for helicopters leaving Algeciras Heliport.