Vitoria Airport (IATA: VIT, ICAO: LEVT) is an airport near Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is locally known as Foronda Airport due to its proximity to the hamlet of Foronda.[2] The airport has one terminal with 3 gates, 7 check-in counters and 16 stands for medium and light aircraft, and a 3.5 km long CAT II/III runway.[3][4]
Before the current airport was built, Vitoria-Gasteiz was served by an airfield in Salburua [eu]. In 1970, due to the demographic growth of the city, the local chamber of commerce urged the provincial government of Álava [es] to study the establishment of regular passenger flights. Due to the inadequacy of the existing infrastructure, preliminary studies for a new airport began in 1972. The 1976 project called for a 2,200 m (7,200 ft) runway, but eventually a 3,500 m (11,500 ft) runway was built.[5] The construction, which started in 1977, required the demolition of Otaza [es], a hamlet which would have been too close to the runway threshold. The airport opened on 16 February 1980.[6]
The provincial government, which had funded the construction, had envisioned the airport as the main gateway to the Basque Country. However, the initial offer of regular flights soon declined due to nearby Bilbao Airport being located closer to the main population centers.[6]DHL opened a logistics center at the airport in 1995, and a new cargo terminal was inaugurated in 2006.[7] Vitoria is currently (as of 2023[update]) the fourth airport in Spain by cargo traffic.[8]
In 2006 Ryanair began daily flights from London Stansted Airport,[9] a year later it started operating flights from Dublin Airport.[10] The airline left the airport in October 2007.[11]Air Nostrum terminated its two daily flights to Madrid in March 2011, leaving the airport without regular flights.[12]Helitt operated flights to Barcelona from October 2012 to January 2013,[13] but no other airline operated regular flights to Vitoria until 2017.[14] During this time, scheduled passenger flights were limited to charter operations during the summer season.[citation needed] During the summer of 2015, Air Nostrum offered flights to Palma de Mallorca, Mahón and Jerez.[2][importance?]
However, in 2016, Ryanair announced its return to Vitoria in March 2017 with year-round services to Bergamo and Tenerife.[14] In October 2017, twice-weekly flights to Cologne/Bonn and Seville were added,[15] with the aim of reaching 115,000 passengers per year.[16] Flights to Mallorca were added in April 2019,[17] at the same time Ryanair announced plans to expand their service to the airport by 40%, with the goal of reaching 160,000 passengers.[18] In October 2020, Ryanair decided to reinforce domestic routes by adding a twice-weekly connection to Alicante.[19] Ryanair's commercial contract was renovated in 2020, and a new route to Charleroi was added in April 2021.[20]Binter Canarias started operating flights to Gran Canaria and Tenerife in July 2020.[21] Binter's route to Tenerife was terminated in March 2022,[22] while the remaining one to Gran Canaria ended in October 2023.[23]
In 2019, the airport served 174,000 passengers (37% international, 63% domestic), operated 10,800 flights and processed 64,500 tons of cargo.[4] The airport served 235,000 passengers in 2022 (the highest number since 1993) and processed 73,600 tons of cargo, the highest number in the airport's history.[29][30]
A bus line connects the airport with the city. The line operates only when regular flights arrive or depart.[34][35] Starting in 2024, a bus line will connect the airport with Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Bilbao Airport.[36]
On 19 May 1995, a Convair CV-580 operated by Swiftair made a wheels-up landing during a training flight. All four occupants survived, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.[37]
Media related to Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport at Wikimedia Commons
