Ajaccio

Napoléon Bonaparte Airport
Control tower
IATA: AJA – ICAO: LFKJ AJA Location of airport in Corsica
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		CCI d’Ajaccio/Corse du Sud
Serves		Ajaccio, France
Elevation AMSL		17 ft / 5 m
Coordinates		41°55′26″N 008°48′09″E / 41.92389°N 8.8025°E / 41.92389; 8.8025Coordinates: 41°55′26″N 008°48′09″E / 41.92389°N 8.8025°E / 41.92389; 8.8025
Website		www.ajaccio.aeroport.fr/.../en
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
02/20	2,407	7,897	Bituminous concrete
Source: French AIP[1]

Ajaccio – Napoléon Bonaparte Airport, Aéroport d'Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte, (IATA: AJA, ICAO: LFKJ), formerly Campo dell'Oro Airport, is the main airport serving Ajaccio on the French island of Corsica. It is located in Ajaccio, a commune of the département of Corse-du-Sud, 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the harbor.^[1]

The airport is the main base of regional airline CCM Airlines, which operates services to continental France.

History

Campo dell'Oro before aviation was an alluvial plain at the mouth of the Gravona. The meaning of "Field of Gold" remains obscure; some 19th-century authors refer to a "rich cropland"; others, to a malaria-infested marshland. A grass flying field existed there before World War II but apparently offered no transportation services, as the first regular flights to Marseille began with the institution of a seaplane service in 1935 from Ajaccio Harbor.

In 1940 a Vichy Air Corp unit was kept inactive at Campo dell'Oro. The liberation of Corsica began with the landing by sea in 1943 of I Corps at Ajaccio in Operation Vésuve. A few months later Fighter Group GC2/7 of the Free French Air Force, a French unit of the Royal Air Force, were operational on the grass field at Campo dell'Oro with Spitfires. Heavy aircraft were unable to land and came to mishap in the soft surface.^{[citation needed]}

In 1944 the United States Army Air Forces took over the airport and put down a hard surface of perforated metallic mats from which a squadron of P-51's flew.^[2][3] They defended B-24's flying from new airfields constructed on the east coast of Corsica. Campo dell'Oro was a challenge for the larger aircraft because of its relatively short runways and proximity to the mountains. Toward the end of the war the runways were paved, the foundation of the modern airport. The Americans also made a concerted effort to eradicate malaria by infilling wetlands and spraying pesticides in coastal regions.^{[citation needed]}

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air France	Paris-Orly
Air France operated by Air Corsica	Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris-Orly
Air France operated by Brit Air	Seasonal: Montpellier, Nantes, Quimper
Air France operated by Régional	Seasonal: Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Geneva, Lille, Metz/Nancy, Strasbourg, Toulouse
EasyJet	Paris-Charles de Gaulle Seasonal: Geneva, London-Gatwick, Lyon [begins 7 April 2012]
Jetairfly	Seasonal: Brussels
Luxair	Seasonal: Luxembourg
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Seasonal: Oslo-Gardermoen [begins 2 June 2012]
Transavia.com	Seasonal: Amsterdam, Olbia

Other facilities

CCM Airlines has its head office on the airport property.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} LFKJ – AJACCIO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE (PDF). AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 17 Nov 2011.
2. ^ Office of Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence (1992). "The AAF in Southern France". The United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Headquarters, Army Air Forces Washington, D.C. (Center for Air Force History). http://www.usaaf.net/ww/vol1/vol1pg1.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-20. 
3. ^ Long, Marc (March 7, 2007). "Calamity in Corsica". Aviation and Air Combat Articles. SimHQ. http://www.simhq.com/_air9/air_288a.html. Retrieved 2008-05-20. 
4. ^ "Relations Clientèle." CCM Airlines. Retrieved on 12 February 2010.

External links

	France portal
	Aviation portal

• (English) Ajaccio Airport - CCI Ajaccio et Corse-du-Sud
• (French) Aéroport d'Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte - Union des Aéroports Français
• Accident history for AJA at Aviation Safety Network
• Current weather for LFKJ at NOAA/NWS