Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport

Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport (Galician: Aeroporto de Santiago-Rosalía de Castro, Spanish: Aeropuerto de Santiago-Rosalía de Castro) (IATA: SCQ, ICAO: LEST), previously named Lavacolla Airport and also known as Santiago de Compostela Airport, is an international airport serving the autonomous community and historical region of Galicia in Spain. It is the 2nd busiest airport in northern Spain after Bilbao Airport. It has been named after the Galician romanticist writer and poetess, Rosalía de Castro, since 12 March 2020.[1]

Santiago - Rosalía de Castro Airport

Aeroporto de Santiago - Rosalía de Castro
Aeropuerto de Santiago - Rosalía de Castro
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OwnerENAIRE
OperatorAena
ServesSantiago, Galicia, Spain
LocationSantiago de Compostela
Focus city for
Built1932
Elevation AMSL1,213 ft / 370 m
Coordinates42°53′47″N 08°24′55″W
Websitewww.aena-aeropuertos.es/santiago/en
Map
SCQ
Location in Galicia
SCQ
SCQ (Spain)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 10,499 3,200 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers2,903,427
Passengers change 18-196.5%
Aircraft movements22,396
Movements change 18-192.5%
Control tower

The airport is located in the parish of Lavacolla, 12 km from Santiago de Compostela and handled 2,903,427 passengers in 2019. It is the main focus city of Vueling in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, and Ryanair's only focus city in Northern Spain. The Christian pilgrimage route of the Camino de Santiago runs near the airport.

History

The airport was set up by a group of aviation enthusiasts in October 1932 and two months directors were chosen to select where the airport was going to be built. In 1935 construction work started at the airport where two years later on 27 September 1937 the first scheduled flight from Santiago de Compostela took place. After the Spanish Civil war, political prisoners (who were held in the concentration camp of Lavacolla) were forced to work in the construction of the airport.[2]

In 1969 a new terminal was built at the airport. It has had several expansions taking place since it opened. It closed in 2011 following a brand new terminal being built at the airport. In 1981, a cargo terminal was built, giving the airport capacity to handle cargo flights.[3] During the 1990s, the airport had non-stop service to South America operated by Viasa.[4]

On 13 October 2011 a new passenger terminal opened at the airport, replacing the old terminal, opened in 1969 and remodeled in 1993.

Terminal

The airport currently has one operating terminal. The old terminal at Santiago de Compostela airport opened in 1969 and had lots of expansions during its lifetime. The old terminal closed on the night of 13 October 2011 when operations transferred to the new terminal.

The new terminal at Santiago de Compostela Airport officially opened on 13 October 2011 and passenger operations transferred there the following day. It is adjacent to the old terminal and has a size of 74,000 sq m. It has 22 check-in desks, 3 security checkpoints, 4 baggage carousels, and 13 gates of which 5 have airbridges. The baggage hall is split into two zones, one for Schengen flights and one for Non-Schengen. It can handle as many as 4 million passengers per year.[5] The terminal is due to be expanded in the future. This includes adding another 5 airbridges to 5 of the current gates as well as 3 more baggage carousels and an expanded shopping area.[6]

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Aer Lingus Dublin
Air Europa Gran Canaria
Seasonal: Fuerteventura, Ibiza,[7] Lanzarote, Menorca,[8] Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife–North, Tenerife–South
easyJet Seasonal: London–Gatwick
easyJet Switzerland Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva
Edelweiss Air Seasonal: Zurich [9]
Evelop Airlines Tenerife–North (begins 6 September 2020)[10]
Iberia Express Madrid
Iberia Regional Bilbao, Tenerife–North
Seasonal: Funchal, Gran Canaria, Menorca
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Ryanair Alicante, Barcelona, Bergamo, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, London–Stansted, Madrid, Málaga, Malta, Palma de Mallorca, Seville, Tenerife–South,[11] Valencia
Seasonal: Rome–Ciampino,[11] Zaragoza [11]
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon (resumes 28 March 2021)[12]
Volotea Seasonal: Ibiza, Menorca
Vueling Amsterdam, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris–Charles de Gaulle (temporarily suspended), Paris–Orly, Tenerife–North
Seasonal: Brussels, Ibiza, Menorca, Zurich

Statistics

During the early 2000s, numbers increased significantly at the airport, from 1.24 million in 2002 to peak at 2.46 million in 2011. Because of the financial crisis in Spain, those numbers decreased to 2.1 million in 2014. Cargo has decreased significantly over the last ten years. The Spanish economic recovery in the mid-2010s and the rise of Santiago de Compostela as an international destination are again increasing passenger numbers, breaking the 2.50 million mark for the first time in 2016.[13]

Traffic figures by year
Santiago de Compostela Airport Passenger Totals 2000-2019 (millions)
Updated: 15 January 2019.[13]
Passengers handledPassengers % ChangeAircraft movementsAircraft % ChangeFreight (tonnes)Freight % Change
2000 1,332,893-19,660-6,773-
2001 1,281,334 3.86%19,084 2.92%6,228 8.04%
2002 1,240,730 3.16%17.362 9.02%5,716 8.22%
2003 1,381,826 11.37%18,454 6.28%5,318 6.96%
2004 1,580,675 14.39%21,593 17.00%4,938 7.14%
2005 1,843,118 16.60%25,693 18.98%3,805 22.94%
2006 1,994,519 8.21%24,719 3.79%2,587 32.01%
2007 2,050,172 2.79%24,643 0.30%2,749 6.26%
2008 1,917,466 6.47%21,945 10.94%2,418 12.04%
2009 1,944,068 1.38%20,166 8.10%1,988 17.78%
2010 2,172,869 11.76%21,252 5.38%1,964 1.20%
2011 2,464,330 13.41%22,322 5.03%1,787 9.01%
2012 2,194,611 10.94%19,511 12.59%1,815 1.56%
2013 2,073,055 5.53%18,688 4.21%1,929 6.28%
2014 2,083,873 0.52%19,431 3.97%2,095 8.60%
2015 2,296,248 10.20%20,540 5.70%2,311 10.10%
2016 2,510,740 9.30%21,227 3.60%2,936 27.04%
2017 2,644,925 5.34%21,520 1.38%2,693 8.28%
2018 2,724,750 3.01%21,839 1.50%3,019 12.10%
2019 2,903,427 6.56%22,396 2.55%3,201 6.02%

Traffic figures by month
2019 Passengers2020 PassengersPassengers % Change
January 178,769179,454 0.4%
February 165,186175,669 6.3%
March 211,52577,934 63.2%
April 253,393829 99.7%
May 263,221139 99.9%
June 277,93310,750 96.1%
July 302,07486,177 71.5%
August 295,425--
September 281,431--
October 263,999--
November 201,069--
December 209,402--

Route statistics
Diagram of the airport
Busiest domestic routes at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2019)[14]
Rank City Passengers % Change
2018 / 19		 Carriers
1 Madrid 721.798 7.1% Iberia, Iberia Express, Ryanair
2 Barcelona 427.442 1.44% Ryanair, Vueling
3 Palma de Mallorca 152.730 3.49% Air Europa, Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling
4 Alicante 147.807 20.88% Ryanair, Vueling
5 Málaga 136.751 18.32% Ryanair, Vueling
6 Tenerife (South) 121.292 36.71% Air Europa, Ryanair
7 Gran Canaria 111.508 20.44% Air Europa, Iberia Regional, Ryanair
8 Valencia 95.725 1.42% Ryanair
9 Lanzarote 88.557 17.27% Air Europa, Ryanair, Vueling
10 Sevilla 86.336 14.12% Ryanair


Busiest International routes at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2019)[14]
Rank City Passengers % Change
2017 / 18		 Carriers
1 London Stansted 114.741 48.93% Ryanair
2 Geneva 91.695 6.99% easyJet Switzerland
3 Dublin 54.888 24.68% Aer Lingus
4 Paris (Charles de Gaulle) 54.169 1.48% Vueling
5 Frankfurt 48.758 18.79% Lufthansa
6 Milan (Bergamo) 47.164 2.88% Ryanair
7 Basel 43.308 2.69% easyJet Switzerland
7 Frankfurt (Hahn) 36.588 13.62% Ryanair
8 Zürich 35.128 11.08% Switzerland, Vueling
10 Amsterdam 28.897 0.56% Vueling


Busiest countries of destination at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2019)[14]
Rank Country Passengers % Change
2018 / 19		 Scheduled Carriers
1 Spain 2.236.916 8.09% Air Europa, Iberia, Iberia Express, Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling
2 Switzerland 170.139 6.83% easyJet Switzerland, Switzerland, Vueling
3 United Kingdom 138.756 22.5% easyJet, Ryanair
4 Italy 92.269 7.89% Ryanair, Vueling
5 Germany 86.532 15.43% Lufthansa, Ryanair
6 Ireland 55.049 25.04% Aer Lingus
7 France 54.499 1.2% Vueling
8 Netherlands 28.907 0.6% Vueling
9 Belgium 17.996 6.82% Vueling
10 Malta 5.986
-		 Ryanair


Busiest Carriers at Santiago de Compostela Airport (2019)[14]
Rank Carriers Passengers % Change
2018 / 19
1 Ryanair 1.239.243 11.61%
2 Vueling 682.463 13.21%
3 Iberia Express 481.184 7.3%
4 easyJet Switzerland 134.972 5.65%
5 Air Europa 100.428 7.04%
6 Iberia Regional 64.941 23.08%
7 Aer Lingus 54.700 24.87%
8 Lufthansa 49.523 15.19%
9 easyJet 40.240 26.15%
10 Swiss International Air Lines 17.763 26.29%

Ground transportation

Road

The airport is linked with Santiago de Compostela (13 km) by the Autovía A-54. This motorway is currently being extended to Lugo (94.5 km) where it will connect with the Autovía A-6, providing toll-free motorway access to the rest of Spain; and to the French border through the Autovía A-8 that intersects with the Autovía A-6 near Lugo. Nearby Autopista AP-9 connects the airport directly to A Coruña (66 km), Ferrol (88 km), Pontevedra (75 km), Vigo (100 km) and the Portuguese border. Ourense (116 km) is reachable through the Autopista AP-53 that connects with the Autopista AP-9.

There are several major car rental companies at the airport. The airport has more than 5,000 short and long-term covered parking spaces in the new terminal building. In addition, there are several low-cost, long-term private parking facilities around the airport.

Bus services

A city bus service operated by Empresa Freire every 30 minutes connects the airport with the center of Santiago de Compostela, and the bus and train terminals in the city. From the station in Santiago de Compostela, private coach operators run direct services in a multiple daily basis to most cities and towns in Galicia, including A Coruña, Ferrol, Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra and Vigo, as well as long-distance services to the rest of Spain, and international services. In addition, three regional services link the airport directly to A Coruña, to Lugo, including several stops in the French Way of the Camino de Santiago, and to the A Mariña coastal area (home to As Catedrais beach) in the province of Lugo.

Rail

There are no rail facilities at the airport. However the train station in Santiago de Compostela, located 12 km. away, is connected to the airport by the city bus service every 30 minutes. There are combined available train+bus tickets to and from the airport. The train station in Santiago de Compostela has medium and long-distance high-speed Alvia and AVE services to most cities in Galicia, including A Coruña, Ferrol, Ourense, Pontevedra, Vilagarcía and Vigo; and further to Madrid Chamartín and the rest of Spain.

Foot and bike

The Camino de Santiago runs next to the runway of the airport. This is the busiest and final journey in the Camino de Santiago that goes through the famous Monte do Gozo. There are dedicated pathways for both pedestrians and bikers towards the city. The walking distance from the runway to the Cathedral is estimated at 10.90 km.

Accidents and Incidents
  • On 3 March 1978, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 operated by Iberia from Madrid–Barajas Airport with 211 passengers and 11 crew members, registration EC-BMX. The aircraft touched down far down the runway after a high approach, aquaplaned off the runway, dropped into a hollow 20m deep and caught fire. The crash was settled with 70 injured people, 10 of them seriously injured, and no fatalities.[15]
  • On 7 June 2001, a Beechcraft B300C Super King Air 350, registration F-GOAE, departed from Le Mans-Arnage Airport (LME), France, to Santiago De Compostela Airport (SCQ), Spain, on a cargo flight according to instrument flight rules. Near the destination airport, the meteorological conditions were reported to be good, and the crew requested a visual approach to runway 17, even though the active runway was 35. Once cleared to land, the aircraft encountered a fog patch and from this moment it began a high ate descent (2000 to 3000 ft/min). A minute after entering an unexpected and unforeseen fog patch, the aircraft struck some trees in level flight and with an airspeed of 148 kt. The wings and engines detached from the fuselage, and they dragged along a scrubland area until they came to a stop. The crew suffered minor injuries and the aircraft was completely destroyed.[16]
  • On 2 August 2012, an Airnor Cessna 500 Citation I, registration EC-IBA, flying from Asturias crashed whilst on approach to the airport with the loss of both crew members.[17]

References
  1. Deaño Santiago, Carlos (12 March 2020). "Rebautizo oficial del aeropuerto como Rosalía de Castro". El Correo Gallego. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  2. http://www.laopinioncoruna.es/galicia/2010/03/13/miles-presos-construyeron-obras-civiles-militares-galicia-1960/366159.html
  3. History of Santiago de Compostela Airport
  4. http://airline-memorabilia.blogspot.com/2011/08/viasa-1995-espana.html
  5. New Terminal
  6. New Terminal Expansion
  7. Liu, Jim. "Air Europa adds new Ibiza routes in 1H20". Routesonline. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  8. Liu, Jim. "Air Europa expands Mahon network in 1Q20". Routesonline. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  9. https://reisetopia.ch/news/edelweiss-santiago-de-compostela/
  10. Liu, Jim. "Evelop Airlines schedules Tenerife North operation in 3Q20". Routesonline. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  11. "Ryanair añade un segundo avión a su base en Santiago". Santiagoaeropuerto.com. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. "TAP Air Portugal moves Santiago de Compostela launch to March 2021". Airlineroute.net. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  13. "Annual Statistics" (in Spanish). Aena Aeropuertos S.A. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  14. Estadísticas aena-aeropuertos.
  15. http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19780303-0
  16. http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20010607-0
  17. Santiago de Compostela accident

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