Aena has defended the choice of a total air traffic closure at Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport, scheduled for May 2027, as the most effective measure for the execution of runway regeneration works. The company emphasized that this type of interruption is not exclusive to Granada, citing similar examples at other airports.
The runway at the Granada airport will be inoperative for 21 days, while Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport will experience a 35-day closure, from April 23 to May 27 this year, for identical reasons, according to Aena sources told Europa Press. Other precedents include Vigo airport, with a 25-day closure, and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, where a runway was closed for 44 days, although the latter has multiple runways. At a European level, closures have been recorded at airports such as Naples (42 days), Strasbourg (one month), and Milan Linate (two months).
The resurfacing of an airport runway is a highly complex engineering project.
Aena highlights the complexity of these runway resurfacing works. Although in Granada most of the work will be carried out at night, there are critical operations that require the complete absence of aircraft. The planning has been designed to optimize times as much as possible, after analyzing four different options. The complete closure solution for 21 days was considered the most efficient from all perspectives, allowing work day and night and eliminating operational safety risks associated with the presence of aircraft.
To speed up the process, asphalt and concrete production plants will be installed at the airport itself. During the closure, the most important tasks will focus on the runway ends, critical areas of radio aids, and taxiways near the runway. At the runway ends, the existing rigid pavement will be demolished and replaced with flexible pavement, involving excavations 35 centimeters deep over an area of 24,000 square meters. These works, which require layers with compaction and cooling times, cannot be carried out during night windows.
The air traffic closure at Granada Airport is scheduled from 2:15 AM on May 5, 2027, until 6:30 AM on May 27, 2027. During this period, flights can operate from the alternative Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport. Aena has included meteorological contingency days to ensure the completion of works, even in adverse conditions. The last days of the closure will be dedicated to runway inspections, visual aids, and radio aid calibrations, ensuring the highest operational safety standards for reopening.
The May date was chosen to find a window of good weather, crucial for pavement curing and laying. Aena noted that Granada airport has a low seasonality index, so the impact of the closure would be similar at any other time. These works are necessary to extend the useful life of the runway, which undergoes natural wear from air traffic, with the last intervention of this type at Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport being in 2008.
