History
By 1927 the Spanish Government became aware of the necessity of having a customs airport in Galicia, and as a first step the harbour of Vigo was conditioned for hidroaviation in March 1929 and at the same time a "maritime airport" was built and started operations at nearby Cesantes beach; meanwhile the construction of a larger inland airport at Peinador was initiated. The Town Hall of Vigo underwent the construction with support from several local companies and industries but shortage of funds would have rendered the airport impossible to finish without the unselfish help of citizens from nearby Vigo and the towns of Lavadores and Mos, who provided services for free in many cases.
The neighbouring Santiago de Compostela Airport, also medium-sized, opened its first regular route with the capital Madrid in 1937; that fact severely hadicapped Vigo airport as its need was greatly reduced, and construction was almost halted. After years of bureaucratic struggle and negotiations from the City Hall of Vigo, the then called Ministerio del Aire fully assumed the construction, re-started in 1947 and completed in 1952. Operations started on 20 April 1954 with a 1,500-meter runway, with Iberia flying a regular route to/from Madrid with Douglas DC-3 aircraft. After a few months Iberia handed the route to Aviaco.
The 1970s increment of traffic led to a further development plan, including the construction in 1973 of a new control tower, a new passenger terminal in 1974, in 1975 an independent power plant and in 1976 the apron space and parking places were both increased and taxiways widened. A few years after the runway was lengthened so DC-9 series aircraft were able to use the airport. As a result, in November 1981 the airport had its first international flight to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Read more about this topic: Vigo-Peinador Airport
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