Gibraltar Airport
From GibMap
In 1931, however, a local aircraft company was given permission to use the racecourse near Devil's Tower Road as an airfield in their service between Gibraltar and Tangier. This started off well but had to be stopped due to maintenance and repair difficulties three and a half months later.
A year later, in 1932, an instruction reached Gibraltar which finally brought an end to the racecourse and produced, in its place, the modern North Front airfield as it is today. The instruction came to General Godley (Governor at the time) from the War Office in the form of a secret memorandum. The matter appeared to have a certain urgency due to the fact that Mussolini's activities in Abyssinia were causing some concern.
On 12th May that year, the sketch plan of the airfield was presented by the Governor, with an estimated cost of £573. The plan was approved and construction work began on 3rd September 1932.
By the time that the airfield was used in Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa, the runway had been extended to a length of just under 1,550 yards. In July, it was ready for use to its full length of 1,800 yards. Today nothing remains of the Victoria Gardens and the racecourse which stood there - a transformation which much of the civilian population did not see as they had been evacuated from the Rock at the time.
The most recent alteration to the runway took place in the Winter of 1976, when it was resurfaced and a new chamber added to aid drainage. The road to the frontier still crosses the runway and is controlled by traffic lights from the control tower. Its original name was Inundation Road, later referred to as the Road to Spain, but now renamed Winston Churchill Avenue.
The airport does feature duty free shopping and a lounge for premium passengers flying on British Airways.
Regular flight services operate between London's Luton and Gatwick Airports, and between Madrid.
From Madrid to Gibraltar:
- Iberia flight 3180, departing Madrid at 1150, arriving at 1300.
- Iberia flight 7490/British Airways flight 6761 (operated by GB Airways), departing Madrid at 2120, arriving at 2230.
From Gibraltar to Madrid:
- Iberia flight 3181, departing Gibraltar at 1350, arriving at 1500.
- Iberia flight 7491/British Airways flight 6760 (operated by GB Airways), departing Gibraltar at 1930, arriving at 2040.
From London Gatwick to Gibraltar:
- British Airways flight 6902 (operated by GB Airways), departing London Gatwick at 0730, arriving at 1130.
- British Airways flight 6906 (operated by GB Airways), departing London Gatwick at 1455, arriving at 1840.
From Gibraltar to London Gatwick:
- British Airways flight 6901 (operated by GB Airways), departing Gibraltar at 0820, arriving at 1015.
- British Airways flight 6903 (operated by GB Airways), departing Gibraltar at 1220, arriving at 1410.
>== New Terminal ==
These are the plans for the new air terminal due to be built shortly.
The EU tender process for the Air Terminal is already under way. Physical construction works will begin at the end of October 2007. The Terminal will be completed by the end of 2008. There will be minimal disruption to the use of the old terminal during construction of the new terminal, since their footprints do not coincide. The Roads project tender process commences to-day with the issue of the EU tender notice. Works are expected to commence in January 2008 and will be fully completed during the first half of 2009. However, the tunnel and its approach roads will be ready at the start of 2009.
