First Test Flight at Corvera

OK - It wasn't actually the Spanish Airforce - but its a great image !

With thanks to The Leader newspaper....exciting reports of further progress at Corvera

Still the subject of speculation and criticism, as well as disbelief and opinion that it may never happen, the authorities are still carrying on with the schedule of testing for operations at the soon to open Murcia Airport, located at Corvera.

This week, the Spanish airport authority, AENA, sent a technical test plane to the region of Murcia, with the sole intention of verifying that tests and adjustments which has now been completed, and that aircraft will be able to land and take off, using both traditional and state of the art methods, and that the airport is now technically ready for operations.

We have followed the development of Corvera airport for some time, you might remember that we recently reported that the infrastructure and aesthetics are complete and that the facility is ready and set to receive passengers, well this next stage will also prove that aircraft are able to use the airport, and that, once and for all, the long awaited transport hub for the Murcia region will be confirmed as a reality.

The flights undertaken by technical staff from Aena were aimed at testing out the procedures to be used by future operators of the airport and insuring that they were acceptable.  The procedures were previously agreed upon by the General Air Force Academy based at San Javier, following consultation with representatives from the Alcantarilla Air Base and the Spanish Air Force, as well as senior officials at the Department for Public Works and Planning of the regional government, the airport concessionary company and experts from Aena. 

The technical report states that during these verification flights, all arrival, departure and approach procedures which require the use of the VOR air navigation aid were tested, not only that of the new airport, but also those of nearby airports, namely San Javier, Alicante and Almería.  In addition, the technical staff tested procedures involving the use of RMU´s ILS (Cat I) precision approach instruments.

The official bulletin states that the results of these flights will be published by Aena Aeropuertos in an official report in the next few weeks, and will subsequently be presented to the Interministerial Committee of Defence and Public Works (CIDEFO) for approval.

So the buildings are ready, the runways are ready, now the instruments are set and working. Once the findings of this report are published, of which nothing has so far been highlighted to the contrary, it will be “chocks away” and all systems go as the Región de Murcia International Airport, or RMU for short, is declared officially ready, firmly fixing the region on the internationally prepared transport map of the world