Corvera Airport

 Here is a link to the latest report on Corvera Airport

http://www.murciatoday.com/murcian-government-responds-to-corvera-airport-interview_12121-a.html

Apart from all the usual contradictions it says that the runway is already sinking!!!!!!!! If that is true what will happen when planes actually start using it?

Heads should roll but will they as it is Spain.

I live close to this airport and have a business where I actually rent properties to the workers and management at this airport and I have visited the airport

What the staff really get annoyed about is the rumours that continue to circulate about the condition and issues with this airport, rumours being the key term here, as in the article states, there is speculation that the runway has sunk and also that it is badly orientated towards Alcantarilla, for speculation read rumour, not fact.

Wouldn't  it be good if for once a publication actually printed the source of this information, rather that SPECULATION 

So what gets added to a serious informative article is another rumour and some other ones recently have included

• That all works had stopped bacause NATO had put a block on the airport when at the time the workers were actualy carrying on normally
• That, even before a plane had actually landed on the runway that the test fight had cracked the runway
• That the runway has been built too short to take large planes, when it is actually longer than Alicante or Murcia
• That rather than it being a civilian airport the military base at san Javier would be moving there and it be expanded to a full NATO base

Facts are that the biggest issue here is, as widely reported, the complexity of sorting out the flight paths and move of staff from San Javier so not if it will open but when it will  open and of course that the test flights were a complete success, doesn't that involve radar systems

Official website for the new airport...

http://www.airm.es/

But don't bother looking.... its just a single page, declaring 'website under construction'... bit like the airport really!

So why don't management come clean for once and make a public statement leeting prospective punters and airlines know exactly whats going on?

Or is it going to be yet another white elephant like the others?

fb

The biggest problem is that because this is a heavily government backed project the staff actually allowed to make any comments and in all honesty, tilll the routes are approved, they cannot say when it will open

The actual airport infrastructure etc is finished and ready to go, but the airlines know exacty what's happening and are as frustrated as the customers

Inspecathomespain said "Facts are that the biggest issue here is, as widely reported, the complexity of sorting out the flight paths and move of staff from San Javier so not if it will open but when it will  open and of course that the test flights were a complete success, doesn't that involve radar systems"

Problem is, when there is no information forthcoming on such a large and eagerly awaited project, speculation will take over and rumour control will run out of hand until either a) a proper statemn is made or b) the airport opens.

At the end of the day, officialdom has only itself to blame for the rumour mongering that is now going on.

Mark

 I thought there was serious doubt that the airport was ever going to open.  See some of the articles on thread http://www.eyeonspain.com/forums/posts-long-15849.aspx

This was the original article on Tumbit where they said that all works had stopped and that the airport was on hold, when everything was progressing normally with staff working normally, and could never be proven or any source provided as the source

http://www.tumbit.com/news/articles/5525-corvera-airport-on-hold.html

 So its going a head then?  When are flights likely to start?

 From what I understand whether or not it goes ahead is in the hands of the Madrid government and not the autonomous region of Murcia.  What appears to be a fact is that Spain has overcapacity for flights in and out of the country, and the government (i.e. Madrid gov) is cutting subsidies to those airports which don't have enough traffic.  So, looking at the bigger picture gets us no further.  It might open - then again, it might not.    

In the same sort of discussion area, I have been told several times that they have started 'work' at Paramount.   Now call me cynical but I don't think that the laying of a symbolic stone amounts to starting work in earnest.

 And sadly, I don't think it matters how perfect or not the infrastructure is at the new airport, whether or not it opens is down to economics.   Jet2.com seems to no longer be offering flights to Murcia over the winter months from airports in the north of England - except for a very expensive week at Christmas.  This does not fill me with confidence.   I had assumed they had disappeared to transfer to the new airport, but there are no signs of them being reinstated!!!

inspectahomespain - they are pressing ahead with the high speed train around us as well, and it will be great if it is opened.  But I am not holding my breath.  The mini boost for rental properties from the rail workers has long finished - but sadly we still have a long way to go to see any benefit in terms of high speed trains.  

Isn't it great to see how a single article can have so many different interpretations depending on ones own personal interest or belief. The real answer is nobody in authority, so far, has catergorically stated that either everything is ok or that Corvera just wont open and be another airport growing weeds.

If I may comment on a couple of the points raised by inspectarhome.

He said that as work was still being carried out, then the airport will open. You can also say the same about San Javier as they are still. or were until recently, carrying out building works. An interesting question to ask oneself is...if it is 100% certain that Corvera will open this year or next year why carry on spending money on San Javier?

I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on airports but inspectahome said that the runway at Corvera was longer than both San Javier and Alicante which I do not doubt him. However how much longer than the existing runways do these massive inter-continental planes need?

The original concept of Corvera was a PRIVATE venture which, as usual in Spain, could not either raise enough capital or interest so let the Government take over and let the investors get their money back. A no risk option so long as the airport does not open.

Another orininal concept was that Corvera would be IN ADDITION to San Javier! WHY? San Javier is not or likely to be in the forseeable future at capicity so where was all this NEW custom going to come from? At that time Paramount was not even an idea in anyones mind. The concept of attracting passengers to a region renowned for its beaches to take away the airport nearest the beaches/hotels/houses and move it 30 minutes inland beggars belief.

Apart from the vested interests, when the bubble here burst two or three years ago, why waste everybodys money in constructing a new airport when there was an adequate one only a stones throw away?

I have as yet not been to Corvera but I expect that they will be using the infamous airbridges. If this is the case it is unlikely that our old f(r)iend Michael O'leary will contemplate using it. If this is correct then bang goes about 50% of their projected clientelle. That sounds good business sense to me!!!

However as stated before I am only postulating and only time will tell who is right and who is wrong.

Carry on with the discussion and your own personal opinions

 I think you make very good points there, and the ongoing improvements to San Javier have always been a puzzle.  I also agree that a lot of the opinions expressed are just an extension of wanting something to happen, while ignoring the facts.

I have no idea whether or not the airport will open, but as I have no vested interest (my place being in Andalucia), I do not worry about the uncertainty too much.   But I repeat - one FACT that we do have, is that Jet2.com is not operating winter flights from northern airports in the UK into Murcia- and this represents a huge reduction.   So, the question has to follow...................... is Corvera needed??   (And here is a surprise - those broadly around Covera Golf will say yes, and those around Roda will say no!!!).