Castellón–Costa Azahar Airport
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The airport Castellón Costa Azahar (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Castellón Costa Azahar, Valencian Aeroport de Castelló) is a newly-built international commercial airport in the Spanish province of Castellón, Valencia region in the east of the Iberian Peninsula. The airport is located 40 km northeast of Castellon de la Plana in Villanueva de Alcolea ( Valencian: Vilanova d' Alcolea ) and Benlloch.
It was officially inaugurated on 25 March 2011, but will not resume flight operations probably a long time, since not only the regulatory procedures for this are not yet available, but also the Valencia region is totally over-indebted. The Castellón Airport ( IATA: CDT, ICAO: LECS ) should not be confused with the smaller Aeródromo Castellón ( LECN ) east of the center of Castellón, right on the Mediterranean coast in Grao de Castellón.
Planning and construction
The airport was planned from 1997 and built since 2004. Construction costs amounted to 2011 to € 150 million. The regional government has agreed with the operating company that the losses of the first eight years of operation shall be borne by the public budget. The contract with the management company running 50 years. The state authorities require places widening of the airstrip (May 2012) as a condition for granting the operating license. The last known date for the recording operation in April 2012 could not be met. First test flights of the national airport authority AENA were held in February 2013.
Criticism
The almost completely built, but not put into service airport is a textbook example of an unnecessary major investment. He should bring tourists to the province of Castellón, which previously owned the only coastal province on the Mediterranean not have its own airport. However, the distance to the two nearest airports Reus and Valencia is only about one and a half to two hours driving time. The reason given for construction with planned investments in the region in a theme park, a large number of guest beds and several golf courses that were only partially met. Because of the severe economic crisis in Spain, there is little prospect of a front hand realization of these projects.