Just 7.5 km from the capital, and perfectly connected to the most important tourist centres, the Ibiza airport is the island's primary communications artery. The airport facilities serve Ibiza and Formentera, and they are used by 95% of all people who arrive at or depart from these islands.

Ibiza airport is characterised by the seasonal nature of its demand and by its predominantly tourist character. It also offers very important scheduled inter-island and mainland traffic, with flights centring on the management or business hubs, such as Barcelona, Madrid-Barajas and Palma de Mallorca, with constant distribution characteristics throughout the year.

The total traffic volume in 2005 included 4,164,703 passengers, 49,603 operations and 4,350 tonnes of cargo.

History

The land in an area called "Es Codolá" was prepared as a temporary military airfield at the beginning of the Civil War. Following the conflict, the installations were maintained as an emergency military airfield.
In 1949, by Ministerial Order of 13 August, the Es Codolá airport was opened to national and international civil tourist air traffic, as well as for technical stopovers for international traffic. However, the airfield lacked proper installations and was closed two years later.

The development of air transport in neighbouring islands, especially in Majorca, moved local authorities to request the construction of an airport in Ibiza, through a Board specifically created for such purpose. The fruit of the labours of this Board was a declaration in November 1954 of the urgency of the expansion works at Es Codolá airport, for their expropriation. Work began in summer 1958 with a budget of barely 500,000 ptas. The first task was to refurbish the barracks to provide a location for airport services and a travellers' lounge.

Airport extension

On 1 April 1958, the Aviaco company began its Ibiza-Palma and Ibiza-Barcelona flights, using Bristol 170 aircraft. Iberia followed afterwards and began service to Barcelona and Valencia on July 10th of the same year, using DC-3 aircraft. The Valencia flights were soon extended to Madrid, which made it possible to link Ibiza with the capital in just a few hours, three times a week.

The first stage of the runway works began in the summer of 1960. During this same period, installation began of a control tower, which had been dismantled at the Palma de Majorca airport and transported to Ibiza.

In September 1961 new expropriations were begun to expand the airport, which reopened officially to traffic in October, this time to domestic traffic only, with a third class administrative classification.

In 1962 the extension works on the runway began. This work was insufficient, since the increase in air traffic and the arrival of jet engine aircraft required a total reform of the airport.

In June 1964, a VHF radiogoniometer was installed in the airport control tower and further land was expropriated to extend the runway. Lighting was installed for the first time on the runway and aircraft platform. At the same time, work began on the passenger terminal building, which was built with the "provisional" classification.

The airport opens to International traffic

On 15 July 1966 Ibiza Airport opened to international traffic and customs round the clock. This allowed the arrival of the first non-stop international flights and, in 1967, reclassification with a first class rating.

Continuing growth in traffic required even greater investment in airport infrastructures. In 1971, work began to expand aircraft parking, the taxiway and the "non-regular traffic modular station". Work on the new terminal was completed in 1973. The building, completed in 1973, was used at first as an international terminal and did not include domestic traffic until a year later. The old building was converted into an airport technical and administrative centre.

Throughout the 1970s aircraft parking was expanded, a new access to the terminal building was built and the airstrip was adapted to handle Boeing 747s. Between 1984 and 1985 the passenger terminal was completely remodelled, and the aircraft parking was expanded in 1988.

In 2002 the check-in area and waiting lounges, both for arrivals and departures, were extended, while the year 2004 saw the implementation of a new car park for hire vehicles.

Airport traffic is currently experiencing a sharp increase which is having a very positive effect on the economic development of the island.

Ibiza Airport is one of the island's largest employers: 2,200 people actually work at the airport, whilst thousands more (taxi drivers, bus drivers, guides, etc) are indirectly employed. Currently, between 8 and 10 per cent of Ibiza's population make a living directly or indirectly from the activities undertaken in the airport grounds.

As it is such a busy Airport we have put together a guide to help you make the most of your holiday and the facilities that are on offer there.

Whether you are meeting someone in the Ibiza Airport arrivals hall or waving goodbye to friends in the Ibiza Airport departure lounge and need help with the Ibiza Airport parking this guide will help.

You can use this guide on Ibiza Airport to research your various transport options, we cover Private Ibiza airport transfers, all Ibiza Airport bus routes and timetables, a guide to the Ibiza airport taxis, including where to catch them and what they cost. Unfortunately there are no trains at Ibiza Airport.

Ibiza Car Hire is an area where you can shave money of the overall cost of your holiday and we have run a price comparison for the top companies at Ibiza Airport.

After you organised your car hire take advantage of our Ibiza Airport driving directions and Ibiza Airport map section to help you get to your destination safely and quickly.

Further Ibiza Airport Information

Ibiza Airport is characterised by seasonal demand and its eminently tourist character. During the six months of the peak season (May-October), the airport handles 85.6 per cent of the total volume of passengers (the number of passengers in August is eleven times higher than the figure for December). With regard to international and European Union flights, charter traffic accounts for seventy per cent of the total.

In 2003 the Ibiza Airport handled 4,156,525 passengers. More than 65 per cent of these passengers (2,712,950) came from European Union countries. The United Kingdom provides the largest proportion of passengers, followed by Spain and Germany. In Spanish the airport is known as Aeropuerto de Ibiza.

Ibiza airport is currently carrying out improvements to its facilities in response to estimated future demand. In 2002 the check-in area was expanded, as were the departures and arrivals lounges.

Other plans are: a car park for hire cars; the construction of a new general aviation terminal, two new rapid exit taxiways for operations at each of the departure points, and a new control tower; and the adaptation of the taxiway for use as an emergency runway.

It is estimated that the passenger traffic at Ibiza Airport will increase to 5,500,000 by the year 2015.

Ibiza Airport - AENA airport

Address:

07820, Ibiza, Balearic Islands,Spain

Airport Code - IBZ

Telephone Number: 0034 971 809 000

E-mail: ibzinfoaena at aena es

URL: http://www.aena.es/ibiza

AENA accepts no responsibility for the information posted at this site neither for the possible damages caused for the use of this information.

Runway 06/24

9186 x 148 feet
2800 x 45 meters

Navaids

Navaids

Ibiza Airport - AENA airport

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2006.
We don't guarantee the information is fresh and accurate. The data may be wrong or outdated.
For more up-to-date information please refer to other sources.