New Corvera Airport in Murcia

Hi All,

Talk in Laverdad today is that San Javier will close (except for military) leaving opportunites for new airport at Corvera.

Possibly compensating AENA (owners) with 70 mill for investments made (e.g. 2nd runway) 

Flights from new airport to start summer 2012.  Staff to be relocated.

Ali

And where does the regional government expect to find 70 million euros?????

Hi

Very selfishly I would prefer San Javier to stay open, very convenient for us. After spending all that money on the new runway it just seems to be strange that everyone seems to be plugging the new airport, when we have two other airports within easy reach of each other. Whose great idea was it to open up another airport anyway?

Skippy498

The other airport (Covera) was meant to open in 2006 originally way before this new runway at MJV was built but as with many things Spanish there were delays delays delays ;-)

I suspect some commercial flights will remain at San Javier however my take is that  if it reverts back to the old 2 - 4pm window that suits me just fine 

Think the reason for the other airport was all the investment by the Chinese and the Russians  in the Murcia area as is the reason for the high speed train  and new motorways links, think the airport was also allowed to proceed because of the Paramount theme park due to be built in the next few years.

Murcia seems to be bucking the trend in comparison to the rest of Spain and seems to have its own mini economy as when we are over  all we see is new projects either being finished or are just starting.  

It depends on who you listen to or which newspaper you read. However at this moment Corvera has not got a licence to operate, nor has 1 single airline  signed a contract to use it. It has to be stated that San Javier airport (MJV) is owned by AENA and therefore is State owned whereas Corvera is a "private" airport that will be using the ATC (Air Traffic Control) from MJV. Also I have been told that there is a large legal action against Corvera by the landowners who had their land "taken" by the owners of Corvera and this will drag on and on. There was even an article earlier this year in, I seem to remember, The Mail on Sunday that stated that Corvera will never open. On an economical front at the moment there are not enough passengers to warrant three airports within the 60 mile area. (Alicante, MJV and Corvera) however if Corvera wants the Intercontinental business then there is no competition with MJV. Also the big row going on with Ryanair and Alicante might mean that if Corvera opens then it will be taking business from Alicante and leaving litlle MJV alone. The main saviour for Corvera will be Paramount if it ever gets off the ground. So as we can all see it is typical Spanish logic/business that everything is undecided and nobody really knows what is going on, even the people who should know! The only sensible thing to do is "watch this space"

Hi All.....regarding Murcia San Javier airport....when we moved here i understood that this was a TEMPORARY Airport, owned by the Military and was only to be use until the new airport was finished, it has none of the ´mod cons´ of a traditional airport, like for example guidance, thats why a lot of the flight are diverted in bad weather......however Corvera is now finished so San Javier need to go back to Military usage. Correct me if im wrong but thats how I understood it

Karen

Big increase in the size of the departure lounge at MJV? - new facilities being constructed within (well, they were on Monday night)? - your guess is as good as mine! 

Steve.

Steve is right,  we will all just have to wait and see but I am an optimist and forever hoping for the best.  Don't think it'll open summer 2012 as predicted as test flights need to be done first.

All we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

Ali

I live locally to the airport, there are number of workers and managers of the airport on the development where I live and I have actually been into the airport and have some good sources of information

 Internally it is pretty much ready to go and I have been told that test fights will start in December

They are still working around the clock shifts to finish everything which is now mainly the outside parking areas and buildingsand I still believe that it will be open for the Summer

As people have already stated the key thing is the Intenational classification and the 3km plus long runway which will alow the larger long haul jets to land

Last year I went on a cruise from Barcelona and the comments form a number of Americams was that they didn't visit this area because there were no direct flights so we all hope that this airport will change this for the area

It has alwards been known locally that the military want San Javier back as a dedicated training facility as mixing the civilian and military traffic has often been a problem

Let's hope they keep to 2011 this time since the original opening date was 2006.  It makes sense since San Javier is a military airport and also it opens up the region once Covera gets its International status.

We remember the days when commercial flights could only arrive at MJV during a limited timeslot (I think 2pm - 4pm).

BTW for those interested here's a view from Covera airport:

(El Aeropuerto de Corvera centrará la próxima semana la Comisión Interdepartamental de Turismo

Hi,

I do know that jobs were advertised locally a while back as a few friends were going to apply until news got round that they were filling the vacancies with Spanards and then what was left could go to outsiders.

Still keeping my fingers crossed.

Ali

Directly working for the airport authority there are 500 permanent jobs, and a pool of 500 part time jobs, with a training scheme starting November and there were 50,000 applications with the most basic requirement being ability to speak Spanish and English

25000 people qualified with these skills and they are now going through the interview process

So what left over jobs are we taiking about.

There will probably be more than 1000 more jobs at the airport when it opens, the catering outlets and shops, car hire parking etc so it is worth watching out for the nexr stage of recruitment

Follow this link for a little ore insight and information, as well as the whole saga from start to date:  http://www.simplynetworking.es/news-8128-31-san_javier_air_traffic_down_alicante_air_traffic_up.html

 Wow, lots of different information in the post. I don't know what to think about it all. Like you say, wait til 2012 and all will be revealed!

 I shall be sorry to see San Javier go if it does. I like the small regional airport and I like to be able to arrive early and go to the sea front for a couple of hours and relax before returning the car and getting into Subway . That said, i'm sure it can get pretty chaotic in peak times as it must be difficult to accommodate more than 3 flights waiting in departures at the same time, then if delays are factored in . We always travel outside of these times of year, so usually find it pretty relaxed, laid back and an easy airport to use.

Mark

Hi all,

More news for you

http://www.simplynetworking.es/news-8208-31-san_javier_will_close_to_civilian_traffic_and_corvera_will_be_run_by_aena.html

Do you think the reason Ryanair has not release its flights for 2012 is due to this issue of uncertainty.

Ali

 Hmm - I have already booked to fly into San Javier next Easter - with Jet2.com   - I am wondering what is going to happen!!!  Looking at the route for me from the two airports to my place, it does not seem to make a great deal of difference in terms of distance or time.  But I think it will divert people away from the already very quiet toll road south of Cartegena. 

 I have thought this would happen all along - the big question really is when?  Flights have been made available by Easyjet and other airlines upto August 2012 and I think these will be honoured.  Things always move slowly in Spain and I would expect there to be an overlap of flights for a few months anyway.  I think you will find than San Javier will still be doing civilian flights well into 2012 and maybe even into 2013.

 The latest update is http://www.simplynetworking.es/news-8273-31-san_javier_closure_negotiations_begin_to_iron_out_the_details.html