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Girona–Costa Brava Airport

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Airport type
  
Public

Website
  
aena-aeropuertos.es

Code
  
GRO

Province
  
Province of Girona

Passenger count
  
1,664,763

Elevation AMSL
  
143 m / 469 ft

02/20
  
2,400

Elevation
  
143 m

Phone
  
+34 913 21 10 00

Girona–Costa Brava Airport

Owner
  
Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA)

Serves
  
Girona, the Costa Bravaand Barcelona, Spain

Address
  
17185 Vilobí d'Onyar, Province of Girona, Spain

Girona–Costa Brava Airport (IATA: GRO, ICAO: LEGE) (Catalan: Aeroport de Girona-Costa Brava, Spanish: Aeropuerto de Girona-Costa Brava) is an airport located 12.5 km (7.8 mi) southwest of the city of Girona, next to the small village of Vilobí d'Onyar, in the north-east of Catalonia, Spain. The airport is well connected to the Costa Brava and the Pyrenees. Girona Airport is used as an alternative airport for Barcelona as well, even though the airport is 92 km (57 mi) north of Barcelona.

Contents

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. 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 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. It has now at an all time low, since 2005 with 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.

Statistics

The following table shows total passenger numbers at Girona Airport from 1997 to date.

Ground transportation

Alongside 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 toll road (Perpignan, France – south of Spain)
  • C-25 (Lleida – Vic – Girona)
  • N-II, no-toll road (Madrid – Barcelona – Perpignan, France)

    • By bus

    There are 6 bus lines operating in the airport:

  • Airport – Barcelona (1 hour 10 minutes, departure times depending on flights. On Sunday the last bus leaves Barcelona at 7:15pm)
  • Airport – 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)
  • Airport – North Costa Brava (stops at Figueres, Roses, Pineda de Mar, Calella de Palafrugell and Tossa de Mar)
  • Airport – Girona (25 minutes, one every hour)
  • Airport – Perpignan in France. Serviced by Frogbus. 6 times daily. Stops at Le Boulou
  • Airport – Andorra. Serviced by Frogbus. 2 times on Friday and Sunday. Stops at Vic

    • 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 away from the airport. There is a project to build a station for the AVE line LGV Perpignan–Figueres.

    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 left the runway when landing in a storm and broke apart. After leaving the runway, it ran 343 metres 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 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.

    • References

    Girona–Costa Brava Airport Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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