Bordeaux - Mérignac Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Bordeaux - Mérignac Airport
nativename = Aéroport de Bordeaux - Mérignac


image-width = 200
IATA = BOD
ICAO = LFBD
type = Public / Military
owner =
operator =
city-served = Bordeaux, France
location = Mérignac, France
elevation-f = 162
elevation-m = 49
coordinates = coord|44|49|42|N|000|42|56|W|type:airport_region:FR|display=inline
website = [http://www.bordeaux.aeroport.fr/ www.bordeaux.aeroport.fr]
metric-rwy = y
r1-number = 05/23
r1-length-f = 10,171
r1-length-m = 3,100
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 11/29
r2-length-f = 7,923
r2-length-m = 2,415
r2-surface = Asphalt
footnotes = Source: French AIPAIP_FR|LFBD|name=BORDEAUX MÉRIGNAC]

Bordeaux - Mérignac Airport ( _fr. Aéroport de Bordeaux - Mérignac) airport codes|BOD|LFBD is an airport serving the French city of Bordeaux. It is located in the town of Mérignac, 6 miles (10 km) west of Bordeaux, within the "département" of Gironde. In 2006, the airport served more than 3 460 000 travellers. It is ranked 6th in France as a destination for passengers.

The airport operates on a two halls basis, within a single terminal, and is only linked to downtown by a coach company called JetBus. This lack of a public mass transport connection has led to a certain anger in the local area. However, there are plans for the tramway system to link the airport with downtown.

In addition to almost a flight per hour to Paris and daily flights to the major French cities, the airport offers daily and weekly flights to a large number of European and international destinations.

The general Charles de Gaulle took off from the airport to join London in 1940. The following day he made the call of June 18th (Appeal of 18 June).

During the early years of the Cold War, Bordeaux-Mérignac was a front-line NATO facility for the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). As well as its civil use, the French Air Force deignated Mérignac Air Base BA 106, and it has been used in its strategic air force.

As a consequence of the temporary closure of the Cazaux military base, the civil authorities have been forced to share the runaway with the French Army since November 2005.

History

Bordeaux Mérignac's origns begin in 1917, when a joint civilian/military air field was established there. The facility was a major hub for Air France, flying from Bordeaux to various destinations in Europe and North Africa. Military uses by the French Air Force was as a training center and also as a bomber base.

During World War II the German Luftwaffe took control of the base and used it as a center for maritime reconnaissance. Focke-Wulf Fw-200 "Condor" aircraft flew from the base roaming the Atlantic Ocean looking for Allied shipping.

The United States Army Air Force 8th Air Force and the Royal Air Force attacked the base in 1943.

After the war Air France resumed commercial operations out of Mérignac and the reestablished French Air Force returned to use the facility.

In 1951 Mérignac was turned over to NATO for use by the United States Air Force. Construction of a modern air base suitable for jet aircraft began on 1 August. Much evidence of the war remained with many warning signs still in German, scattered munitions around the facility; the perimeter was still mined; large quantities of practice bombs, and destroyed hangars and other buildings as a result of Allied air raids.

On 1 October 1958, Bordeaux-Mérignac Air Base was closed to reduce USAFE expenses and manpower. All ongoing activities were moved to the NATO Chateauroux-Deols Air Base in central France. The U. S. Army operated a logistics facility at Mérignac for a few years, but ended their activities in 1961 and the entire facility was returned to French control.

Airlines and destinations

*Aer Arann (Galway, Waterford)
*Aer Lingus (Dublin)
*Aigle Azur (Algiers)
*Air Algérie (Algiers)
*Air France (Lyon, Nice, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly)
**operated by Régional (Barcelona, Brussels, Lille, Lisbon, Madrid, Marseille, Mulhouse, Nantes, Porto, Rennes, Rome-Fiumicino, Strasbourg)
*Air Transat (Montréal)
*Atlas Blue (Marrakech, Agadir)
*British Airways (London-Gatwick)
*bmi
**bmibaby (Birmingham, Manchester)
*Corsairfly (Pointe-à-Pitre)
*easyJet (Bristol, London-Luton, Lyon)
**easyJet Switzerland (Geneva)
*Flybaboo (Geneva) [starts 27 October]
*Flybe (Southampton)
*Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn)
*Iberia
**operated by Air Nostrum (Madrid)
*KLM
**operated by KLM Cityhopper (Amsterdam)
*Lufthansa
**operated by Lufthansa CityLine (Frankfurt)
*MyAir (Venice)
*Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo, Stockholm-Arlanda)
*Nouvelair Tunisie (Djerba) [seasonal]
*Onur Air (Bodrum) [seasonal]
*Royal Air Maroc (Casablanca)
*Portugalia Airlines (Lisbon, Porto)
*Tunisair (Tunis)

See also

*United States Air Force in France

References

External links

* [http://www.bordeaux.aeroport.fr/ Aéroport de Bordeaux] (official site) fr icon
* [http://www.aeroport.fr/les-aeroports-de-l-uaf/bordeaux.php Aéroport de Bordeaux] (Union des Aéroports Français) fr icon
* [http://caea.free.fr/fr/historiqueaerobx.html History of aeronautics in Bordeaux and its area] fr icon
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?placesearch=Bordeaux%20-%20Merignac%20(BOD%20%2F%20LFBD)&distinct_entry=true Aviation photos: Bordeaux - Merignac (BOD/LFBD)]
*WAD|LFBD
*ASN|BOD
*WikiMapia|44.8283|-0.7155|13