Valencia Airport Explained

Valencia Airport
Nativename:Spanish; Castilian: Aeropuerto de Valencia
Catalan; Valencian: Aeroport de València
Image2-Width:250
Iata:VLC
Icao:LEVC
Type:Public
Owner-Oper:Aena
City-Served:Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain
Location:Manises
Hub:
Elevation-F:240
Elevation-M:73
Pushpin Map:Spain
Pushpin Label:VLC
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Spain
Website:aena.es
Metric-Elev:yes
Metric-Rwy:yes
R1-Number:12/30
R1-Length-F:10,548
R1-Length-M:3,215
R1-Surface:Asphalt concrete
Stat-Year:2022
Stat1-Header:Passengers
Stat1-Data:8,114,852
Stat2-Header:Passengers change 21-22
Stat2-Data:99.0%
Stat3-Header:Movements
Stat3-Data:73,498
Stat4-Header:Movements change 21-22
Stat4-Data:48.1%
Stat5-Header:Cargo (t)
Stat5-Data:13,787
Footnotes:Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA[1]
Spanish AIP, AENA[2]

Valencia Airport (es|Aeropuerto de Valencia, ca-valencia|Aeroport de València), also known as Manises Airport, is the tenth-busiest Spanish airport in terms of passengers[3] and second in the Valencian Community after Alicante. It is situated 8km (05miles) west[2] of the city of Valencia, in Manises. The airport has flight connections to about 20 European countries and 8.53 million passengers passed through the airport in 2019.[1]

History

The Valencia Airport opened in 1933, and had its first regular flight the following year.

The airport is the main base of Iberia's regional carrier Air Nostrum. Irish low-cost airline Ryanair used the airport as a hub since 2007 but decided to close it in November 2008 following a dispute over subsidies by the airport authorities.[4] Since then the airline has continued to operate out of Valencia and reopened base in 2011.

Delta Air Lines inaugurated a route to New York City, Valencia's first transatlantic service, in June 2009. It operated the flight with a Boeing 757.[5] [6] The company initially planned to fly year-round to New York. A few weeks after the maiden flight, however, Delta decided to make the service seasonal due to low ticket sales.[7] It ultimately severed the link in September 2012 because of poor demand and rising fuel costs.[8] [9] In June 2025, Air Transat will begin seasonal flights to Montreal.

Facilities

Terminal

Valencia Airport consists of a single terminal that has been built in three stages which are directly connected to each other. The landside hall consists of three check-in areas: 1-12 is the newest one with the airport station beneath it, 13-42 is the oldest main building with a currently derelict upper floor, and 43-56 is the largest annex, housing most airlines. A single central security area leads to the airside with gates 1-22, with gates 1-4 being the newest area designated for non-Schengen flights. Gates 12-22 are located in a separate hall designated as a regional terminal that opened in time for the 2007 America's Cup which allows walk-boarding, mainly for flights by Iberia Regional and low-cost carriers. Some of the gates are equipped with jet bridges. The airside area features several food outlets and shops.

Runway and apron

The sole operational runway has been also lengthened by 50m (160feet) by 2007. The former runway 04/22 is not in use and has no ILS but has a helipad at the southwestern end.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

Statistics

Busiest routes

Busiest european routes from VLC (2023)
RankDestinationPassengersChange 2022 / 23
1 Amsterdam408,351 19%
2 Rome-Fiumicino378,516 86%
3 Paris-Orly375,253 28%
4 London-Gatwick354,796 25%
5 Frankfurt250,822 4%
6 Zurich240,671 23%
7 Eindhoven237,793 0%
8 Bergamo231,319 33%
9 Paris-Charles de Gaulle226,700 29%
10 Lisbon216,134 8%
11 Brussels216,028 8%
12 London-Stansted209,403 20%
13 Bologna193,094 17%
14 Istanbul177,760 55%
15 Milan-Malpensa168,114 32%
16 Vienna140,503 32%
17 Berlin110,539 38%
18 Porto107,804 44%
19 Bucharest-Otopeni107,207 8%
20 London-Heathrow106,692 15%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[10]
Busiest intercontinental routes from VLC (2023)
RankDestinationPassengersChange 2022 / 23
1 Marrakech56,780 19%
2 Tangier51,528 14%
3 Fez40,004 149%
4 Casablanca30,839 26%
5 Agadir25,687 54%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo
Busiest domestic routes from VLC (2023)
RankDestinationPassengersChange 2022 / 23
1 Palma de Mallorca711,272 11%
2 Ibiza357,568 15%
3 Madrid356,297 16%
4 Seville259,268 31%
5 Bilbao194,509 23%
6 Tenerife-North157,296 23%
7 Santiago de Compostela148,126 2%
8 Menorca136,133 10%
9 Málaga134,563 65%
10 Gran Canaria101,107 4%
11 Asturias70,839 19%
12 Lanzarote52,986 2%
13 Santander51,744 17%
14 Tenerife-South41,113 19%
15 Barcelona36,171 41%
16 A Coruña31,645 25%
17 San Sebastián20,746 New route
18 Fuerteventura20,452 5%
19 Vigo1,194 92%
20 Vitoria1,179 8%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo

Ground transport

Road

Valencia airport is situated adjacent to the Autovía A-3 highway which connects Valencia with Madrid and is also close to the Autovía A-7 coastal route to Barcelona. It is connected to the city of Valencia by a regular bus line operated by Fernanbus which takes between 30 and 35 minutes[11] and passes through Mislata, Quart de Poblet and Manises.

Rail

The metro network Metrovalencia with lines 3 and 5 on the airport station connect the airport to the city centre (15 minutes), the main Railway Station of the city Estació del Nord (20 minutes) and the port of Valencia (30 minutes).

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Estadsticas – Aeropuertos Espaoles y Navegacin Area – aena-aeropuertos.es. 1 June 2015.
  2. Web site: Spanish AIP (AENA). https://web.archive.org/web/20170116180944/http://www.aena.es/csee/ccurl/496/235/Valencia%20Airport%202015.pdf. dead. 16 January 2017.
  3. Web site: Aena airport statistics 2016.
  4. Web site: Welcome to Ryanair!. Ryanair.com. 1 June 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090930115421/http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=08&month=oct&story=gen-en-241008. 30 September 2009.
  5. News: Valencia estrena el vuelo sin escalas a Nueva York . Las Provincias . 7 June 2009 . 26 May 2021 . Ricós, F. . Spanish.
  6. News: Línea aérea directa entre Valencia y Nueva York . El País . 6 June 2009 . 26 May 2021 . Spanish.
  7. News: El vuelo Valencia-Nueva York se alarga a octubre . El País . 2011-08-17 . es . .
  8. News: Delta resumes Kennedy-Valencia route . Travel Weekly . 2012-07-17 . 2023-06-10.
  9. News: Delta Airlines suprime los vuelos entre Valencia y Nueva York durante el próximo año . Las Provincias . 18 October 2012 . 26 May 2021 . Spanish.
  10. Web site: Inicio . 2023-03-01 . aena.es.
  11. Web site: fernanbus. LÍNEA 150. 2021-03-01. Fernanbús. es.