History
The airport was constructed during World War II upon the territory's race course (introduced by the Maltese), when Gibraltar was an important naval base for the British. Originally opened in 1939, it was only an emergency airfield for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. However, the runway was later extended by reclaiming some land from the Bay of Gibraltar using rock blasted from the Rock of Gibraltar while carrying out works on military tunnels. This last major extension of the runway allowed larger aircraft to land at Gibraltar.
Spain's continuing sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the territory where the airport stands (different from the generic one on Gibraltar itself) has seriously affected the airport's operations. On 2 December 1987, an agreement was signed between the governments of the United Kingdom and Spain to allow the joint civil use of the airport. The agreement foresaw the building of a new terminal in the neighbouring Spanish municipality of La Línea de la Concepción adjacent to the northern side of the existing frontier. However, the agreement was blocked by the Government of Gibraltar, led from 1988 by Joe Bossano. As a result, the agreement was never implemented.
Since then, Spain successfully excluded Gibraltar from European wide de-regulation initiatives, preventing direct links from Gibraltar to the rest of the European Union (except the United Kingdom), on the grounds that no regulation that somehow recognises the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over the Gibraltar peninsula may be implemented without a previous agreement on the airport.
On 3 November 2003, Monarch announced a new route from Gibraltar to Manchester Airport. It is the first route from Gibraltar that operates to the North of the UK. However on 19 July 2006, Monarch withdrew the route due to the cost. On 21 April 2008, Monarch announced it was to resume the services from Gibraltar to Manchester with flights restarting on 12 September 2008. The route operates three to five times a week: every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in winter season, as well as on Thursdays and Sundays in the summer season.
By late 2005 and early 2006, the implementation of a new agreement was one of the main topics of the Gibraltar Trilateral Forum being held between the Governments of Gibraltar, Spain and the United Kingdom. As a result, the Córdoba Accord was signed on 18 September 2006 by all parties. This ended all discriminatory restrictions on civilian flights to Gibraltar International, including the prohibition of flights over Spanish soil, and exclusion of Gibraltar from all EU agreements on air transport, allowing civilian flights from all nations into Gibraltar International.
On 17 November 2006 Iberia announced that it would start flights from Madrid to Gibraltar using an Airbus A319 aircraft. This was a landmark move as no Spanish airline had flown to Gibraltar since 1979, because of its disputed status. Iberia began flights to Gibraltar International on 16 December 2006 with a flight from Madrid that included some members of the Spanish Government on board. GB Airways flew a one-off flight in the other direction with a group of children from the Gibraltar area making up the passengers. In May 2007 GB Airways (flying as a British Airways franchisee) also began operating the route between Madrid and Gibraltar, however, this was discontinued on 30 September, leaving Iberia to work the route alone. On 22 September 2008 Iberia announced that it would cease its flights to Madrid by 28 September due to "economic reasons", namely, lack of demand. This left Gibraltar, once again, without any air links with Spain.
In April 2009 Ándalus Líneas Aéreas restored Gibraltar's airlinks with the Spanish capital. In July 2009 Ándalus also began scheduled flights to Barcelona, increasing the destinations in Spain to two. However, the airline ceased to serve this route in September 2009 due to a lack of demand. In April 2010 it was confirmed that Ándalus flights to and from Gibraltar had been indefinitely suspended. And now yet again, Gibraltar has no direct air links to Spain. Ándalus Líneas Aéreas ceased operations on 13 August 2010.
In December 2010, EasyJet announced a new route from Gibraltar to Liverpool. This is the first time that an airline has operated a flight from Liverpool to Gibraltar. The route will operate on a Tuesday, Thursday and a Saturday, probably to reduce delays at the airport and clashes with Monarch flights to Manchester. However the route was cancelled in October 2012 due to lack of demand. The last service was operated on 27 October 2012.
On 18 May 2011, Bmibaby announced that it would launch flights from Gibraltar to East Midlands from 31 March 2012. This is the first time that an airline has operated a flight from East Midlands to Gibraltar. The route operates on a Tuesday, Thursday and a Saturday and is operated by a Boeing 737-300. However on 3 May 2012 it was announced that Bmibaby was to be closed down by the IAG Group after failing to find a buyer for the airline. Bmibaby operated its last service to Gibraltar on 8 September 2012 and the airline operated its last flight on 9 September 2012.
On 10 January 2012, Gibraltar was selected as one of the World's Scariest Airport Landings and Take-offs in the travel section of the Daily Telegraph due to its relatively short runway which extends into the sea.
On 14 August 2012, Monarch announced that they were to launch a new route to Birmingham, operating three times a week; every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Read more about this topic: Gibraltar International Airport
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