Next Tuesday the King of Spain will inaugurate the new Corvera airport, which can accommodate 140 landings and take-offs throughout the day. Ryanair flight from the UK will make the first landing after 10 o’clock in the morning. Later, the plane with the king of Spain will land, as recently yesterday by the Minister of Development, Patricio Valverde, in statements to Onda Regional.
The forecasts of the Community suggest that the new airport may exceed this year 8,600 flights and reach 1.2 million passengers, which would equal the figures acheived by San Javier in recent years.
Aena, the company that is operating Corvera airport, will make the transfer from San Javier during the night of January 14 to 15, since part of the equipment that will work in the new airport is still in use in San Javier.
Also, the staff from San Javier will start working in Corvera on the 15th, with the exception of two employees who have requested a change of destination. “Corvera is ready to receive a flight every four minutes,” said Valverde.
The transfer will force a frenetic activity during the night before the inauguration of Corvera, since it will also be necessary to change some 200 signs on the roads in the area to indicate the routes to follow to reach the new airport.
Corvera has capacity for five million travelers. The Community expects to receive 1.2 million passengers this year, matching the figures that San Javier has reached in recent years, after having reached two million before the crisis.
82% of traffic is concentrated between the months of April and October (the spring and summer season) and 81% of tourism comes from the United Kingdom.
The new airport will open next Tuesday with flights to twelve destinations in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium, although as of March new companies will be added and the number of routes will be increased to twenty.
Norwegian Air has announced four destinations for the season that begins at the end of March, so it will be one of the most active companies in Corvera, along with Ryanair.
Jet2.com will also operate again in the Region.
From next spring Corvera will debut the connection with Oviedo announced by the company Volotea, founded by the Murcian Carlos Muñoz.
The Minister of Development recalled yesterday that Aena also has talks to establish flights with Madrid and Barcelona, which San Javier came to have.