Tours Loire Valley Airport
Encyclopedia
Tours Val de Loire Airport is an airport
in the French
department of Indre-et-Loire
, 6 km (6,000,000,000,000 nm) north-northeast of the city of Tours
in the Loire Valley
(Val de Loire). The airport is located partly on the territory of the communes of Tours and Parçay-Meslay
.
The airport is open to both national and international carriers, private planes and is certified for both instrument flight
and visual flight
. It has daily flights to several European destinations operated by Ryanair
using Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as well as non-regular flights to Lyon
and Bastia
. Due to its limited security measures, the airport is not open to larger carriers.
The airport is home to around 40 Alpha Jet
s belonging to the French Air Force
, as well as a couple of Mirage
fighters as part of the Vigipirate
defence plan.
, it was destroyed by German and British bombers }: Afterwards, the airport was used by NATO and the US Air Force before becoming a flying school in the 1950s. From the early 1960s, Tours Airport was opened to the public. During the end of the 1970s the airport enjoyed a golden period due to the local airline Touraine Air Transport (TAT), but that airline suffered a slow slump, from which the airport never really recovered until the late 1990s, when it received subventions by the Conseil Général.
of 357 feet (109 m) above mean sea level. It has one paved runway
designated 02/20 which measures 2404 by 45 m (7,887.1 by 147.6 ).
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
in the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
department of Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, 6 km (6,000,000,000,000 nm) north-northeast of the city of Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
in the Loire Valley
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...
(Val de Loire). The airport is located partly on the territory of the communes of Tours and Parçay-Meslay
Parçay-Meslay
Parçay-Meslay is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.-See also:*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department* Tours Loire Valley Airport...
.
The airport is open to both national and international carriers, private planes and is certified for both instrument flight
Instrument flight rules
Instrument flight rules are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other are visual flight rules ....
and visual flight
Visual flight rules
Visual flight rules are a set of regulations which allow a pilot to operate an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than basic VFR weather minimums, as specified in the rules of the...
. It has daily flights to several European destinations operated by Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
using Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as well as non-regular flights to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and Bastia
Bastia
Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....
. Due to its limited security measures, the airport is not open to larger carriers.
The airport is home to around 40 Alpha Jet
Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced trainer aircraft co-manufactured by Dornier of Germany and Dassault-Breguet of France.- Origins :...
s belonging to the French Air Force
French Air Force
The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...
, as well as a couple of Mirage
Dassault Mirage F1
The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French air-superiority fighter and attack aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation as a successor of the Mirage III family. The Mirage F1 entered service in the French Air Force in the early seventies...
fighters as part of the Vigipirate
Vigipirate
Vigipirate is France's national security alert system. Created in 1978 by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, it has since been updated three times: in 1995 , 2000, and 2004....
defence plan.
History
The airport dates back to the 1930s, and was first used as a military base. During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it was destroyed by German and British bombers }: Afterwards, the airport was used by NATO and the US Air Force before becoming a flying school in the 1950s. From the early 1960s, Tours Airport was opened to the public. During the end of the 1970s the airport enjoyed a golden period due to the local airline Touraine Air Transport (TAT), but that airline suffered a slow slump, from which the airport never really recovered until the late 1990s, when it received subventions by the Conseil Général.
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 357 feet (109 m) above mean sea level. It has one paved runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
designated 02/20 which measures 2404 by 45 m (7,887.1 by 147.6 ).
Airlines and destinations
External links
- Tours Val de Loire Airport, official website in English Aéroport de Tours - Val-de-Loire at Union des Aéroports Français