Assistance needed - Revamping an airfield on the Coast of Spain

Hi @speed, where exactly are you getting the upgrade? Maybe some of us have already visited and should have some comments.

I’m not going to suggest places to visit, but if you really want to make the airfield great for GA, let me suggest some things:

1. Have a few bikes for hire to visiting pilots. Often the biggest pain is getting from the airport to the local town / village. Some (not expensive) bikes for rent makes that really nice. They don’t have to be new or fancy. Just working.
2. Self service fuel (which accepts a credit card) is wonderful. Makes coming refuelling really quick and stress free. Just make sure the instructions are clear and in multiple languages.
3. Make easy provision for out of hours use. If you need some sort of indemnity make it possible to submit it from your website with an auto responder. Not being subject to opening hours is really great, especially during the summer.
4. Put up a notice somewhere with info for visiting pilots. Eg. A list of 4 or 5 local taxi numbers. Perhaps directions to the local town (map). Maybe list a few nearby cafes / restaurants with their distance and phone numbers. This is great for visiting pilots who don’t know the area especially if arriving out of hours.
5. Keep the fee structure simple. I’m happy to pay my bills, but I prefer not to have to use a spreadsheet to workout what it will cost me to visit!

Apart from the self service fuel, I don’t think the above will cost very much at all, but can make a big difference.

Tiedowns. Either steel eyelets sunk in concrete or steel cables that run the length of the parking area. The latter is the preferred method of many small airfields around here.

Hi Speed.

What a great initiative! Can’t wait to hear where the exact spot is. Some more ideas in addition to those of Dublinpilot:

1. Airfield documentation on the web, most importantly Appch & Dep procedures in English, type of aircraft allowed (ULM, Certified, Motorgliders, think span), phone numbers to close and open FPL, contact data. If the field is guarded, clear instructions of getting out and in when outside of opening hours.

2. A (simple) restaurant at the field would be great, so people can make an efficient stop when traveling. Unless of course there are restaurants really nearby like at LECN. A local restaurant draws public, makes it more lively and attracts people who may want to learn to fly..

3. Local repair facilities with English speaking mechanics.

4. You mention the aspiration to become a reference for Spain. So would it be accessible to (light) jets? ATC/Flight Info?

I’ll think some more, so additional things may pop up.

Again, thank you for providing an impulse to GA in Spain! Much needed..

Ideally it should be a great zero hassle “final destination” for pilots + family. Fuel, hangars, accommodation, transport (to nearby activities: Hiking, biking, cuisine, beach 🏝️, golf…).

Hola @Speed

It’s just wonderful to hear that enthusiasm and to see that maybe someday soon we (as a community) might have a new destination to explore!

One problem that you will encounter is that pilots are very wide distributed among the population, it’s hard to nail down something that works for all.

When I was young I travelled to airfields. We camped at the field, most perfectly below the wing or at a campsite at the airfield. I looked for airfields that had a lovely nature surrounding and obviously a shower and allowance to put a tent.

That’s totally different to what most pilots are looking for.

(However, bikes were great when available, @Dublinpilot is spot on with his list)

Typically pilots fly to a destination to actually get somewhere – a city trip, a business meeting, whatever. OR to a place that has something special nearby like a big museum of technology (Speyer in Germany) or the Red Bull hangar in Austria.

But it doesn’t sound like you’re looking for this, but to make the airfield itself an attraction.

Then you should take a look at airparks like the Aero Delahaye airpark in France or (I forgot the other name) in Denmark (or was it south of Sweden?) maybe someone here can help me out?

So assuming the beach is reachable by bike you could place something where one could sleep (could be even a caravan..) and then this might get quite attractive as a destination for a short stay of a couple of days. Like in Mimizan LFCZ. By the way that airfield is always quite crowded when I am there, because of the sky divers. Lots of camping, but there are also some small huts to rent. (And self-service pump works great, haven’t looked for bikes 😅)

There’s also a cool bar with toys for the kids and ice cream and cool drinks. We enjoyed every stay, however so far we were always only on the go from or to Spain. I’d recommend talking to one of the guys there, because as I said it’s always crowded although it’s some kilometres to the shoreline.

I have always felt that before all else an airfield need what we call here “a permanence” or "concierge in hotel terms.That is a friendly face who can help any arriving pilot with transport, hotels, restaurants etc.
Many hotels and restaurants in France will arrange for someone to come and pick you up and drop you off.
A permanence can deal with the fuel (self service pumps are great but are expensive to install. Think 30,000 to 40,000 €. That’s a lot to recoup for whatever type of fuel you are thinking of selling especially as there is an increasing variety required these days. If you have a bar this is someone who can serve some drinks or make tea or coffee. The local authority, if they are looking for visitors may well be able to help by extending local transport links with the airfield either on a timetable or on demand basis. One can build on that. You can identify things that may be profitable.
Bikes yes, but again have to be administered and maintained.
If you can persuade a maintenance company to base there, that would be great. But they need to see a profit.
Hangars cost a lot to build and needs a good based aircraft.
What you have not mentioned is what part of the pilot/aircraft population you are hoping to attract and how much you a prepared to invest to attract them.

IMO the most important is fuel. There has to be 100LL, 91UL (or some variant) or better : mogas 98 ethanol free, and Jet A1. Most visitors will come in Rotax powered aircraft, and they will want 91UL or Mogas. However, if there’s only 100LL, they will think twice (not likely to come at all).