Castellón Airport

The Times last week highlighted the plight of Castellón-Costa Azahar Airport on the
Mediterranean coast of Spain, 50 miles north of Valencia. 

The airport was officially declared "open" by local authorities in March 2011 despite having no airlines signed up to land there, nor government approval to operate.

Delayed for several years and at a current cost of €150m, commercial flights were due to begin on 1 April 2012, but currently there are none. 

It is typical of Spanish wasteful spending in recent times.  A US$375,000, 24 metre tall statue of Carlos Fabra, a local politician, was erected at the airport.  Fabra is now under judicial investigation in connection with several cases of corruption and tax evasion.

On paper the Castellón airfield looks an attractive proposition supporting a holiday region with no other competing airports.  There is a single 2,700m runway which can be relatively easily certificated.  A comparison can be made with Knock Airport in the West of Ireland built with Government (EU) funds and considered a white elephant, even now only moving around 600,000 passengers on an annual basis. www.aerocas.com

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