Gibraltar International Airport or North Front Airport (IATA: GIB, ICAO: LXGB) is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The runway is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use by the Royal Air Force as RAF Gibraltar. Civilian operators use the civilian-operated terminal. National Air Traffic Services hold the contract for provision of air navigation services at the airport.

In 2017, the airport handled 571,184 passengers and 302,094 kg of cargo on 4,888 total flights.[2] Winston Churchill Avenue (the main road heading towards the land border with Spain) intersects the airport runway, and consequently has to be closed every time a plane lands or departs. The History Channel programme Most Extreme Airports ranked the airport the fifth most extreme airport in the world.[3] It is exposed to strong cross winds around the rock and across the Bay of Algeciras, making landings in winter particularly uncomfortable.

Monarch Airlines was the largest operator at Gibraltar International, operating flights to Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester Airport.[4] All routes were operated by an Airbus A320-200. Monarch entered administration at 4:30am on 2 October 2017, ceasing operations with immediate effect [5] around a year after rumours of its imminent demise became widespread. EasyJet operates seven weekly flights to London Gatwick operated by Airbus A320 family aircraft, as well as three flights per week to Bristol Airport and two flights a week to Manchester Airport. British Airways also operates nine weekly flights to London Heathrow being operated by an Airbus A320-200. Royal Air Maroc Express also operate twice weekly flights to Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport, which continue onto Casablanca Airport.

Although located in Gibraltar, the airport is also used by people travelling to or from neighbouring parts of southern Spain such as the Costa del Sol or the Campo de Gibraltar.

History [ edit ]

A bulldozer and steamroller being used during the construction of a new aerodrome on Gibraltar, November 1941

Winston Churchill Avenue crossing the runway with the rock in the background

Runway overview

Construction [ edit ]

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.[citation needed] This last major extension of the runway allowed larger aircraft to land at Gibraltar.[citation needed]

Business development since the 2000's [ edit ]

On 3 November 2003, Monarch announced a new route from Gibraltar to Manchester Airport.[6] It was the first route from Gibraltar to operate to the North of England. However, on 19 July 2006, Monarch withdrew the route due to the cost. On 21 April 2008, Monarch announced it would resume the services to Manchester from 12 September 2008. The route operated 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.[7]

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.[8]

In April 2009 Ándalus Líneas Aéreas restored Gibraltar's air link with the Spanish capital.[9] In July 2009 Ándalus also began scheduled flights to Barcelona, increasing the destinations in Spain to two.[10] However, the airline ceased to serve this route in September 2009 due to a lack of demand.[11] In April 2010 it was confirmed that Ándalus flights to and from Gibraltar had been indefinitely suspended.[12] And now yet again, Gibraltar has no direct air links to Spain. Ándalus Líneas Aéreas ceased operations on 13 August 2010.

In 2009, British Airways moved their flights from Gatwick to their main base at London Heathrow.

From 2011 until October 2012, easyJet offered thrice-weekly service from Gibraltar to Liverpool, but it was eventually cancelled 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 was the first time that an airline has operated that route. The route operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, using a Boeing 737-300. However, on 3 May 2012 it was announced that Bmibaby was to be closed down by the International Airlines Group after the group failed to find a buyer for the airline. Bmibaby operated its last service to Gibraltar on 8 September 2012 and the airline operated its last flight on 9 September 2012.

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 runway which extends into the sea.[13]

On 14 August 2012, Monarch announced it would launch a new route to Birmingham, operating three times a week; every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The route began on 23 March 2013 but changed to running on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.[14]

In the summer of 2014 services between Gibraltar and Marrakech were operated by Royal Air Maroc Express on behalf of a local travel company, Your Flight.[15] However, the services, which were operated on a charter basis, and could not be booked via global distribution system channels or on a connection basis, terminated after just three months due to insufficient demand.[16]

In November 2014, easyJet announced that they would begin a new route to Bristol Airport which commenced on 19 April 2015.[17]

It was also announced in November 2014 that the short intercontinental air connection between Gibraltar and Tangier would be restored after many years and operated by Royal Air Maroc with services beginning in March 2015 on a twice weekly basis. Unlike the previous Marrakech flights these would be operated by RAM for themselves, and offer connecting flights to their Casablanca hub and onwards, and be available via normal sales channels.[18]

Overnight work to resurface the runway started on the evening of September 4, 2015, and the work was completed in January 2016.

In November 2015, easyJet announced that they would begin a new route to Manchester Airport twice weekly, making this the first time two airlines have competed against each other on the Manchester-Gibraltar route. The new route commenced on 3 July 2016. During the same month, Monarch announced a new route from Gibraltar to London Gatwick, beginning on 1 May running four times a week.[19]

On 2 October 2017, the CAA confirmed that Monarch Airlines had ceased operations with immediate effect and had entered administration. All flights were cancelled. Monarch operated about a third of the airports movements prior to shutting down.

On 12 July 2018, easyJet announced a twice weekly new route to London-Luton restoring the link between the two airports. The restored route started in December 2018.[20]

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

Disputes regarding territory's status [ edit ]

The airport is located on the isthmus that connects Gibraltar with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. Whether or not the airport's territory was ceded by the Treaty of Utrecht is disputed by Spain and Britain.[21] In the spring of 1815, Spain claims an epidemic of yellow fever struck Gibraltar, so that the British authorities built several barracks as field isolation in the neutral zone. On 20 April 1815 Lt. Governor of Gibraltar, George Don agreed with the general commander of the Campo de Gibraltar, General Don José María de Alós, that "a large proportion of the inhabitants [of Gibraltar] to [..] not [have] they suffered fever, temporarily established on the neutral ground, as close as circumstances permit, in front of this fortress".[citation needed]

In 1908 the British government erected a fence that forms the actual border.[citation needed] Spain claims of the original 156 hectares of neutral ground, England annexed 106.[citation needed] In this location Gibraltar Airport was built.[citation needed]

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.[22] 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, such as the Single European Sky programme 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.

Terminals [ edit ]

New airport nearing completion in 2011

There is one terminal at Gibraltar International. [23]

Old terminal [ edit ]

The old terminal at the airport was built in 1959 and refurbished in the late 1990s. For many years, it had been too small to cope with the number of passengers when 2 flights were scheduled to arrive/depart within a short space of time. The size of the terminal was 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft), and had 10 check-in desks, one baggage carousel, one security gate and two departure gates. On 26 November 2011, arriving flights switched to the new terminal as the first phase of the new terminal opened. On 25 September 2012, the old terminal closed its doors as flight departures moved into the new terminal on 26 September 2012. The last flight to use it was easyJet flight EZY8904 to London-Gatwick. The old terminal building was demolished in February 2014.

New terminal [ edit ]

A new terminal was constructed at Gibraltar International [24] due to increasing numbers of passengers. Planning permission was announced in 2007 with construction of the new terminal beginning in 2009 and completed in 2011. The first phase of the new terminal opened on 26 November 2011 for arriving flights only. The second phase of the new terminal opened on 26 September 2012 when flight departures moved. The first flight to use the first phase was EasyJet flight EZY7295 from Liverpool and the first flight to use the second phase was British Airways flight BA491 to London Heathrow. The terminal's terrace was inaugurated by the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward on 13 June 2012.[25]

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 three departure gates, none of which are equipped with jet bridges. It has a passenger capacity of up to 1.5 million passengers per year. Retail services are also available in the terminal and these include WH Smith, 36 North Bar and Gibraltar Duty Free Stores. A new general aviation area has also been built inside the terminal to handle private aircraft.

Expansion [ edit ]

New road access [ edit ]

Security barrier at the intersection of Gibraltar International Airport runway and Winston Churchill Avenue.

The road across the runway is constraining 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.[citation needed]

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.[26] Construction of the new road was due to begin in January 2008 and be completed by the beginning of 2009,[4] but as of 2016 it was still not completed. Although the road across the runway is to remain in place, for exceptional, specific, or emergency use, it will not be available for routine day-to-day use by 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 prolonged litigation between the Government of Gibraltar and contractor OHL over the delay was resolved in June 2016 with an agreement for OHL to complete the works at a price of £24 million and a projected finish date of November 2018.[27]

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 Devil's 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.[28]

New car parks [ edit ]

A number of car parks are being built at Gibraltar International during its expansion, including a new 220-space, three-story car park located at the east of the new terminal. Another new car park is to be built by Eastern Beach, and two multi-storey facilities will also be built on Devil's Tower Road.[28] The old terminal building is to be demolished to make way for a coach park.[citation needed]

Airlines and destinations [ edit ]

Statistics [ edit ]

Passengers Aircraft movements Cargo (tonnes) 2008 378,603 3,958 624 2009 371,231 4,290 313 2010 305,325 3,346 296 2011 383,013 3,628 292 2012 387,219 3,490 314 2013 383,876 3,564 352 2014 415,103 3,730 384 2015 444,336 4,100 408 2016 548,230 4,968 404 2017 571,184 4,888 302 Source: Gibraltar Airport Statistics[29]

Accidents and incidents [ edit ]

In popular culture [ edit ]

The runway featured in a BBC Top Gear special and was also used by Jaguar in the launch of a new range. A custom painted Boeing 737 was used in conjunction with a fleet of the cars. The airport appeared on Channel 5's series, Gibraltar: Britain in the Sun which was broadcast from June to July 2013.

The airstrip and the Four Corners Border crossing feature at the end of Carol Reed's 1963 production of The Running Man. Several 'takes' were shot as Remick and Harvey chase each other, firstly through the Border and later as the light aircraft took off from the Eastern end of the runway, narrowly missing an RAF Halifax aircraft which was supposed to be taking off too.

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Media related to Gibraltar Airport at Wikimedia Commons