Melilla Airport

Melilla Airport is an airport located in Melilla, an exclave of Spain in Africa. The airport is located about 4 km southwest of the city, near the border with Morocco. Between 1931 and 1967 Melilla was served by the Tauima Aerodrome (now the Nador International Airport), even when Morocco had gained its independence in 1956. This Spanish controlled airport did not open until 1969. It has the capacity to move up to 500,000 passengers and the annual average number of passengers is around 400,000.

Schedule
Air operations hours are between 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. in winter and between 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. in summer.

Air Nostrum, the only airline that connects Melilla with the rest of the country, has formally requested Aena to extend the airport's hours, so that it operates between 7:15 a.m. and 10:15 p.m., thus extending its operation into night time slots.

Aena gave the go-ahead so that, starting in April 2024, the airport's hours will be between 7:15 a.m. and 10:15 p.m. throughout the year.

20th century
In the 1920s, several military aerodromes were built in area for the Air Arm of the Spanish Army:


 * Ramel – now in Morocco
 * Arcila – now in Morocco
 * Zeluan – now in Morocco

Following the conflict between Spain and Morocco, a new military airfield was built near Cabrerizas Altas. This airport had a simple 300 m landing area. As tension settled and Spain was able to re-establish land around Melilla, this airport was relocated again further south of city.

The new airport, Tauima Aerodrome, was opened for civilian flights 1931 and used also by the military. The El Atalayón hydroplane air station (now site of oyster farm) in the Mar Chica was operational in the 1930s to provide additional air travel options using Dornier Do J seaplanes. In 1956 the end of the Spanish protectorate over northern Morocco placed the airport outside of control from Spain, although some investment from Spain was done in the aerodrome until 1958. Limited access to the airport was given to Melilla by secured bus until 1967. The Tauima aerodrome later became Nador International Airport.

In 1969, the current airport was opened within Melilla's borders and was strictly a civilian facility. Spantax began operating on it, with a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, and later, with a De Havilland Canada DHC-7.

In 1980, Spantax was replaced by Aviaco, a subsidiary of Iberia at the time, which would use a Fokker F27.

In 1992, Binter Mediterráneo would enter, also a subsidiary of Iberia, which operated with CN-235, and which later replaced Aviaco. It linked the city of Melilla with: Malaga, Almería, Valencia and, in its last year, with Madrid.

In 1995, PauknAir entered service, which operated with BAe 146, and which broke Iberia's monopoly on operations from Melilla. It managed to connect the city with 7 national airports: Malaga, Madrid, Almería, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and it was the first time that it connected the city of Melilla with Santiago de Compostela and Santander. This airline would cease its operations in 1998.

In 1997, a historical record of 351,569 passengers was broken.

Sadly, PauknAir ceased operations after one of its planes crashed in 1998. After these events, a new VOR radio aid was built to support aircraft without having a published approach.

21st century
For the year 2000, Aena anticipated a volume of 500,000 passengers per year, but the fatal PauknAir accident in 1998 and the subsequent construction of the Nador airport cut short the growth. Falling from 365,000 annual passengers (1,000 pax/day) to around 220,000 annually.

Definitively, in 2001, Air Nostrum acquired Binter Mediterráneo, thus keeping the monopoly of Melilla routes: Málaga, Almería, Valencia and Madrid. It began operating with Fokker 50, Dash 8 and later with ATR 72. Today is carrying out regional flights for Iberia.

In 2002, the new control tower was inaugurated, as well as new improvements to the airport infrastructure in the city.

In 2003, the departure of a Fokker 50 from the Dutch company Denim Air, operating for Air Nostrum, forced the replacement of the company's Fokker 50 and Dash 8 with the new ATR 72.

In 2004, Vueling carried out studies to implement the Barcelona-Melilla route, but never began operations due to the dimensions of the runway and the category of the airport. This route was moved to Nador. That same year, Airmel-Club Aéreo de Melilla appears teaching private airplane pilot classes, thus adding to the multiple visits of small planes, rallies and aerial hugs that have been taking place in the city. throughout its history.

In February 2005, the runway expansion works were completed, thus going from 1,344 meters to 1,428 meters.

In October 2006, Air Nostrum began operating the Barcelona route, launching 4 weekly flights; and in March 2007 the operation was increased with a daily flight, reaching the record number for the route with 21,212 passengers transported.

In 2008, Air Nostrum implemented the Seville, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia routes, operated by the Dash 8. In addition, that same year, the airport obtained the European ISO 9001 quality and ISO 14001 environmental management certification.

At the beginning of 2009, Air Europa carried out tests with the Embraer 195 in the LGW simulator to present them to Civil Aviation to obtain the corresponding permits, made maximum landing weight approaches, on both runways, in all types of weather conditions, with engine failure, etc. They also tested takeoffs with different flap settings and weights, and aborted takeoffs. It was determined that the plane landed perfectly at maximum landing weight, and to take off, tables were obtained from the technical office with the maximum permissible weights for each destination. In cases like Madrid-Melilla, the number of passengers had to be limited to 110. In the Melilla-Madrid, Malaga-Melilla and Melilla-Malaga; there was no limitation. The company, finally, could not operate in Melilla because the classification of the airport, category 2C, did not allow the operation of the Embraer 195, category 3C.

At the beginning of 2011, Airmel announced that it was going to start operations from Melilla with a ATR 42-300, but it never started operations due to the airline's lack of commitment to continue with the incipient airline.

On 21 November 2011 Helitt Líneas Aéreas began operations with the inaugural route Malaga-Melilla; a week later the line Melilla-Barcelona began to operate and on 2 December, the route Melilla-Madrid, all with daily flights; that once again broke with the monopoly of Air Nostrum in operations from and with Melilla. On 25 January 2013, it temporarily stopped offering commercial flights.

That same year Ryjet began operations with Malaga-Melilla, ceased operations in 2012.

At the beginning of 2013, there were rumors that Air Europa wanted to operate from Melilla, this time with one of its ATR 72-500, rumors that did not materialize.

On 16 April 2013 Melilla Airlines began operations with the inaugural route Malaga-Melilla, making regional flights with Malaga, months later with Badajoz Airport, although the connections with Badajoz did not give results, the occupation of the route to the Costa del Sol was good. A year and a half later, it ceased operations.

On 21 July 2014 Air Europa confirmed the previous rumors, took a step forward and decided to start operations with the inaugural route Malaga-Melilla with a first flight of around 90% occupancy.

At the end of the year 2016, Iberia announced the cancellation of the routes with Almería and Granada, a fact materialized at the beginning of January 2017, as there was a notable adjustment of its national routes in general and its structure as an airline.

Throughout the year 2018, the procedures for, under pressure from the Government of the Autonomous City itself and its citizens, given the widespread frustration and discomfort with the cancellation of the lines with Granada and Almería, are initiated, elaborated and formalized. after more than twenty years with daily and weekly flights, make the lines with Almería, Granada and Seville a Public Service Obligation (OSP). This data means the resumption of services with Granada and Almería, and the new service with Seville, all of which are scheduled for the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.

On 30 November 2018 Hélity began operations with the inaugural route Ceuta-Melilla with a first flight of an AgustaWestland AW139.In January 2020 suspends the line with Melilla. The reason is that Melilla reported that helicopter operations at Melilla airport could only be carried out from sunrise to sunset.

Just one year later, on 30 November 2019 Aena announced the change of category from 2C to 3C in March 2021. Then there was talk of the second semester of 2022. Then the exact date was given: 30 November 2022 and now the Government delegate postpones it within a maximum period of two months, which would place a new limit in March of this year. The airport changes to category 3C on 23 February 2023.

In January 2022, Air Europa suspends the line with Melilla, the reason is that it will use its ATR 72 in the Canary Islands. The company has shown its interest in continuing to connect the city with the peninsula if the airport's classification changes or if the runway is expanded and larger aircraft such as the Embraer 195 of its fleet can land.

Melilla Airport closed 2022 as the busiest year in its history, 447,450 travelers, bordering on its capacity limit of 500,000 passengers/year.

At the beginning of 2023, the Romanian airline AirConnect proposed a connectivity plan for Melilla with Malaga, Madrid and other European cities such as Porto, Lisboa and Faro.

In July 2023, the government of Melilla requested that the airlines with Madrid and Malaga be declared Public Service Obligations, the extension of the airport's schedule and landing strip.

In October 2023, EasyJet and Binter Canarias showed their interest in operating in Melilla and the need to expand the landing strip for their respective Airbus A319 and Embraer 195-E2. In addition, Aena gave the go-ahead so that, starting in April 2024, the airport's hours will be between 7:15 a.m. and 10:15 p.m. throughout the year. Also, Aena put out to tender the work to expand the airport's departure lounge. In addition, the local government announced tourist vouchers that will subsidize 75% of air transportation to "non-resident" travelers in Melilla.

Melilla airport closed 2023 with a total of 501,069 passengers and 10,755 operations, exceeding, for the first time in its history, half a million travelers and 10,000 landings and takeoffs in one year and exceeding 100% of its capacity limit. 500,000 passengers/year.

The airlines serving the airport are regional carriers connecting to Spain to the north. The airport is also a general aviation airfield and handles private small aircraft. There are no flights directed to airports in Morocco. In the past Melilla was also served by Spantax from 1969 to 1981, Aviaco from 1981 to 1992 and Binter Mediterraneo from 1992 to 2001.

Runway expansion
Initially, a runway measuring 1,600 x 45 meters was proposed, in a first phase, which could be extended to 2,280 meters. Finally, the new airport had a runway 750 m long by 45 m wide.

In 1974, the work to extend the flight runway from the initial 750 m to 975 m was completed.

In 1982, the runway was extended again to 1080 m, after the accident on 6 March 1980, a De Havilland Canada Dash 7 from Spantax.

In 1995, with the entry of PauknAir, the flight runway was extended by 300 m, whose total length on that date was 1,347 m.

In February 2005, after a Fokker 50 of Air Nostrum left the runway in 2003 during landing, the last runway extension of 118 m was put into service towards the south which also made it necessary to bury the airport access road, resulting in a new total length of 1,433 m, whose length is the one today it owns the Melilla infrastructure. The current runway dimensions limit operations to the ATR 72 model.

The northern orography of Melilla means that the threshold of runway 15 (north) is displaced 235 meters, resulting in an available landing distance of only 1,198 meters. To the south, the landing distance from Melilla is greater: 1,371m.

With the current dimensions of the Melilla airport (only one header), airlines could begin operating with airplanes with between 110 and 180 seats, such as the EMB195; Airbus 220; Airbus 318/319/320; Boeing737. On the other hand, very penalized. The local orography causes this threshold to be moved to the north, which greatly penalizes the payment burden (fare and suitcases) and distance from which it would be arrived. This last point is very important to be able to reach central Europe, especially in the case of takeoff distances declared by both airports.

With the change of category to 3C and adaptation of the approach to type C, companies with aircraft such as the A320 and the Boeing737 can operate with the current dimensions in Melilla, but with penalties, which is why it is necessary to extend the runway by 270 m., towards the south and another 350 m., useful to the north.

With the arrival of more operators and competition in routes and prices, the quality of the passage is improved and it is even more justified, if possible, to expand the runway.

Despite the increase in passengers and the demands for the expansion of the runway or its adaptation to other aircraft models with greater capacity, this has not been carried out by Aena, making it impossible for other airlines to arrive nor new routes.

The airport's Master Plan does not contemplate expanding the runway because only the aircraft ATR 72 and the destinations Malaga and Madrid are analyzed. Despite the fact that the ATR needs 1,853 meters of runway to operate at maximum load and range.

Takeoff:

The runway length necessary to take off in MTOW conditions, as well as its range if they carried, in those conditions, their MPL. This track length is reflected in the Table: With the current runway (1,433 m for takeoffs from headland 15 and 1,371 m for takeoffs from headland 33) the ATR-72 aircraft operates with limitations in its payload. However, for the main destinations operated from the airport, Malaga (112 NM) and Madrid (314 NM), there are no limitations regarding the number of passengers transported.

Landing:

The runway length necessary to land the ATR-72 aircraft under Maximum Landing Weight (MLW) conditions has been analyzed as it is the most restrictive. The results obtained are shown in the Table: With the current runway (1,198 m for landings on head 15 and 1,371 m for landings on head 33) and under MLW conditions, the aircraft analyzed can operate without landing weight limitation.

In July 2023, the Melilla government promoted an expansion of the airport runway.

Operations
Melilla Airport has the following air spaces and dependencies to carry out its functions: Melilla Corridor. Operations between Melilla Airport and the Peninsula are carried out along the Melilla Corridor. The AIP ENR 2.1 classifies this Corridor as uncontrolled airspace (Class G), specifying that flights at FL60 or lower will be under the jurisdiction of Sevilla ACC, and flights at FL70 or higher will be under the jurisdiction of Casablanca ACC. These are the following declared distances for 1.428 m runway by its threshold 15 and 33:

The airport changes its category to category 3C on 23 February 2023 after the announcement by Aena that it allows the operation of jet aircraft such as the CRJ-200, Embraer 170, Embraer 195-E2, Bae 146, Airbus A220, Airbus A318, Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737, all of them penalized in payload (passenger and luggage) and distance from which they would arrive. It is necessary to extend the runway by 270 m., towards the south and another 350 m., useful to the north so that these jet planes can operate without penalty.

The geopolitical situation of the city means that the approach of the aircraft has to be done 'in a curved way', so as not to invade Moroccan airspace and hence the difficulty in installing the ILS (Instrument Landing System) guidance system in straight line that works in most airports in the world. The current radio aids (VOR/DME and NDB) are on Melilla soil, but they do not prevent the city from being cut off on days with low clouds at 700/800 feet. With an offset locator or RNAV (satellite) Approach System, airport operations with adverse weather conditions would be allowed.

Melilla airport, despite its low traffic, is located next to the Moroccan border and, since there is no agreement with Morocco, planes must perform difficult maneuvers during takeoffs and landings to avoid entering airspace from Morocco. Even so, there is no cause for concern as so far there have been no problems related to that.

Terminal
The terminal has a total of 6 check-in counters, 3 boarding gates and 2 baggage reclaim carousels. It also has a Support Office for Passengers, Users and Clients / It is in charge of processing the suggestions of the passengers on the services and facilities of the airport. It also has claim forms from Aena Aeropuertos; Security control, passport control and a Melilla Turismo Stand in the arrivals area.

Airfield

 * Control tower
 * Runway 15/33: 1433 m
 * Platform: 6 parking spaces.
 * Helicopter Platform: 1 parking space
 * Fire station

Awards
In 2014, the Melilla Delegation of the Spanish Committee of People with Disabilities (CERMI) recognized Melilla Airport with the CERMI MELILLA 2014 AWARD for its "Barrier-Free" service for people with reduced mobility. (PMR).

In 2018 and 2019, it was recognized with the Airport Service Quality, ASQ award by the ACI for the best European airport for the quality of service provided to the traveler.

Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Melilla Airport:

Passenger figures
Number of passengers, operations and cargo since the year 2000:

Military use
Melilla Airport is frequently used by the Spanish Air Force as an airport of departure and arrival of soldiers destined for missions carried out by the Spanish Army abroad.

Car
The access by road is from the ML-204, from the city center, which also connects with the ring road ML-300.

Taxi
There is a taxi rank near the arrivals hall. Taxis only transport 4 people per car. The rate varies depending on the route and the time of the trip, these are some examples:

To the Parador Nacional, €7

To the city center, €6.5

To the beaches, €6

Saturdays and Sundays €1 additional each way.

Melilla VTC
Melilla airport also has a VTC service that operates in the city.

Bus
There are no bus lines to the airport.

Bike Lane
There is no bike lane to or within the airport or parking for bicycles.

On Foot
The area has sidewalks exiting the airport and on the nearby highway.

Incidents and accidents

 * In 1944, a Ju 52 plane from Iberia L.A.E. makes an emergency landing on a plain at Cabo de Tres Forcas. Fortunately, there were no casualties. As a curiosity, the fuselage of said plane was used as a throne for the Virgin of Hope (Málaga).
 * On 6 March 1980, a De Havilland Canada Dash 7 of Spantax suffers an accident when trying to land at the airport. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
 * On 20 November 1984, a light plane from the National Aeronautics School of Salamanca has to make an emergency landing in the Alborán Sea, after taking off from Melilla. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
 * On 25 September 1998, PauknAir Flight 4101, a BAe 146, crashed into a hill on approach to Melilla killing all 38 occupants.
 * On 29 August 2001, Binter Mediterráneo Flight 8261 takes off early in the morning from Melilla to Málaga, where, near from the airport, collapses on a road near it. 3 passengers (two Spanish and one French) and the pilot died.
 * On 17 January 2003, an Air Nostrum Fokker 50, operating for Iberia, overran the runway and broke apart. Nine people were injured but there were no fatalities.
 * On 28 December 2010, an Iberia passenger plane flying the route Almería-Melilla suffered a failure on the climb route. engine that caused several explosions and a flare. The plane returned to Almería Airport without injuries, and the incident was investigated by Air Nostrum and determined that it was a technical failure.
 * On 19 July 2023, an ATR 72-600 of Air Nostrum that carried out the route Málaga-Melilla declared an emergency due to an electrical failure. A few minutes later he warned the Malaga control tower that he needed to return as soon as possible. The landing was carried out without incident and with the runway free.

Controversy
There are different disagreements about the name of the airport. The Ministry of Transport had accepted the proposal to name the Melilla airport after Virgilio Leret, who invented the jet engine which he patented in 1935.

The local government is in favor of naming streets and infrastructures after people from Melilla, as is the case of Antonio Molina, civil guard murdered by the ETA terrorist group in 2002. Furthermore, he claims that Virgilio Leret, the Republican military engineer who was shot in the Civil War, is not the right person to bear the name of the airport. He claims that he has nothing to do with the city and that he was only in Melilla when he was murdered.