# Zaragoza Airport

Zaragoza Airport (Aragonese and Spanish: Aeropuerto de Zaragoza; IATA: ZAZ, ICAO: LEZG) is an international airport near Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. It is located 16 km (9.9 miles) west of Zaragoza, 270 km (170 miles) west of Barcelona, and 262 km (163 miles) northeast of Madrid. In addition to serving as a major cargo airport, it is also a commercial airport and, as Zaragoza Air Base, is the home of the Spanish Air and Space Force 15th Group.
The airport has a number of passenger airlines serve it, but is mostly known as a cargo operations hub.

## History

During the Cold War, the United States Air Force (USAF) used the facility as Zaragoza Air Base.
The construction work on Zaragoza Airport began in September 1954 with the enlargement and improvement of the existing Spanish Air Force Base located there. United States Navy engineers upgraded the facility for temporary or intermediate use as a war standby base. The first U.S. construction project included strengthening the existing 3,024 m (9,921 ft) runway and adding 304 m (1,000 ft) overruns at each end. Work on a new concrete runway, 61 by 3,718 metres (200 ft × 12,200 ft), with 61 m (200 ft) overruns at each end, began in 1956 and was completed in 1958.
Zaragoza was one of three major USAF Cold War airbases in Spain, the others being Torrejón Air Base near Madrid and Morón Air Base near Seville.
The airport was also used by NASA as a contingency landing site for the Space Shuttle in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL). Zaragoza was chosen as a NASA Space Shuttle TAL site due to its long runway, which needs be longer than 7,500 feet, its pleasant weather, and alignment with Shuttle launches to the high-inclination International Space Station orbit. The base also has a military-grade navigation system called a TACAN—"Tactical Air Navigation"—that can adapt to the special guidance devices NASA used with its shuttles.

## Airlines and destinations
### Passenger

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Binter Canarias | Gran Canaria, Tenerife–North |
| Dan Air | Bucharest–Otopeni (begins 12 April 2025) |
| Iberia | Seasonal: Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Menorca |
| Ryanair | Beauvais, Bergamo, Charleroi, London–Stansted, Marrakesh, Santiago de Compostela, Treviso (ends 28 March 2025) Seasonal: Fez, Palma de Mallorca |
| Volotea | Seasonal: Menorca |
| Vueling | Palma de Mallorca |
| Wizz Air | Bucharest–Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca, Rome–Fiumicino (begins 1 April 2025) |

### Cargo

| Airlines | Destinations |
| Air China Cargo | Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong, Tianjin |
| Atlas Air | Almaty, Amsterdam, Baku, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Dubai–Al Maktoum, Istanbul, Liège, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Miami, Riyadh, Seoul–Incheon, Sharjah, Tel Aviv, Zhengzhou |
| Avianca Cargo | Amsterdam, Bogotá, Miami |
| Cargolux | Luxembourg |
| China Cargo Airlines | Amsterdam, Shanghai–Pudong |
| Emirates SkyCargo | Dubai–Al Maktoum, Mexico City, Quito |
| Ethiopian Cargo | Addis Ababa, Bogotá, Guangzhou, Liège, Mexico City, Miami |
| Geo-Sky | Türkmenabat |
| Qatar Airways Cargo | Beirut, Chicago–O'Hare, Dhaka, Doha, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Mexico City, New York-JFK, Quito |
| Saudia Cargo | Dammam, Riyadh |

## Statistics

Zaragoza Airport – Traffic Information :
| Year | Passengers (change) | Movements (change) | Cargo tons (change) |
| 2011 | 751,097 (+24.0%) | 11,970 (-5.9%) | 48,609 (+14.3%) |
| 2012 | 551,406 (-26.6%) | 9,268 (-22.6%) | 71,094 (+46.1%) |
| 2013 | 457,284 (-17.1%) | 7,597 (-18.3%) | 71,661 (+0.7%) |
| 2014 | 418,576 (-8.5%) | 7,039 (-7.3%) | 86,311 (+20.4%) |
| 2015 | 423,873 (+1.3%) | 7,050 (+0.1%) | 85,741 (-0.8%) |
| 2016 | 419,529 (-1.0%) | 7,269 (+3.1%) | 110,564 (+29.0%) |
| 2017 | 438,035 (+4.4%) | 7,965 (+9.6%) | 142,185 (+29.1%) |
| 2018 | 489,064 (+11.6%) | 8,991 (+12.9%) | 166,834 (+17.3%) |
| 2019 | 467,774 (-4.4%) | 8,770 (-2.5%) | 182,659 (+9.5%) |
| 2020 | 172,344 (-63.2%) | 6,559 (-25.2%) | 143,600 (-21,4%) |

### Busiest routes

Busiest international routes from ZAZ (2023) :
| Rank | Destination | Passengers | Change 2022 / 23 |
| 1 | London-Stansted | 74,057 | 4% |
| 2 | Bucharest-Otopeni | 905,422 | 10% |
| 3 | Bergamo | 51,316 | 11% |
| 4 | Cluj-Napoca | 46,501 | 9% |
| 5 | Charleroi | 34,755 | 16% |
| 6 | Beauvais | 34,249 | 9% |
| 7 | Marrakech | 33,885 | 29% |
| 8 | Treviso | 25,539 | New route |
| 9 | Bologna | 21,398 | 0% |
| 10 | Lisbon | 7,960 | 29% |
| Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo ||||
Busiest domestic routes from ZAZ (2023) :
| Rank | Destination | Passengers | Change 2022 / 23 |
| 1 | Palma de Mallorca | 121,366 | 12% |
| 2 | Tenerife-North | 53,980 | 4% |
| 3 | Gran Canaria | 27,705 | 6% |
| 4 | Santiago de Compostela | 26,806 | New route |
| 5 | Menorca | 18,381 | 3% |
| Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo ||||

## Ground transport

Currently, the airport is connected to the city center by a bus line (501), which goes from the Puerta del Carmen square, downtown, to the airport, also stopping at the city's main railway station: Zaragoza-Delicias. This train station is an important hub for long-distance trains, AVE high-speed trains and the commuter line of Cercanías Zaragoza, which takes passengers underground through the city and overground in the metropolitan area. In February 2023, Zaragoza mayor's office confirmed plans to create a direct bus service "on demand" from June 2023. This line will be serviced by electric buses to start and will significantly reduce journey distances and the duration (it will be about 12 or 13 kilometers depending on the direction). Schedules of these buses will be coordinated with those of the flights scheduled at the airport.