On 26 October 1912, the first aviation fairs were held in Cadiz, at Victoria Beach. They were repeated in 1913 with flights over Cadiz and Jerez de la Frontera. In the 1920, seaplanes prevailed over land craft. In March 1929, the airspace over the port and bay of Cadiz was opened to official and private air traffic.
The commencement of the Spanish Civil War produced massive movements of troops from the north of Africa to mainland Spain. The Jerez Aerodrome, located in the area of Zarandilla, two kilometres southeast of the city, is put into service as an improvisional airport for the first time on 29 July 1936. During the conflict, a group of wine merchants raised funds to purchase an aeroplane, however, the funds were finally dedicated to building an aerodrome.
On 8 May 1937, work began on levelling out an area of eight kilometres to the northwest of Jerez. The works concluded in November and a Transformation School was set up at the new aerodrome to train pilots from the beginner schools. In 1983 the facilities were given the name of Haya Aerodrome. In 1946 the aerodrome was opened to civil and all domestic and international tourist air traffic as well as for technical layovers for commercial traffic.
In 1951, with two landing runways comprised of sandy substrate, 04-22 and 13-31, Jerez Aerodrome became the Polymotor Aircraft School, which motivated the construction of a firm runway, 03-21, in October 1952. Over the following years the air base facilities were completed: the runway was extended, link runways and aircraft parking areas were built, navigational aids and communications equipment were installed, etc.
International traffic
In August 1968, Jerez Air Station was opened to international passenger traffic, and later that same year work began on the construction of a passenger terminal. In 1969 the aeronautical limitations were published and a year later work began to extend the runway.
On 8 September 1975, the airline company Aviaco inaugurated its scheduled Madrid-Jerez / Cadiz-Madrid route. From then onwards, traffic began to slowly consolidate and at the end of 1991, Aena began remodelling the airport in order to adjust its infrastructures to the new air transport demands. The project included the construction of an apron with space for six aircraft and linked directly to the runway by a link runway, a new power plant, a water purifying plant, a fire prevention building and a new two-storey passenger terminal. It also has a new road access and a parking area for private cars and buses. The new terminal and associated facilities were inaugurated on 7th May 1992.
On 30 June 1993 the Jerez Air Station was officially closed down, all its staff were transferred to Moron (Seville), and Aena took over the management of the facilities.
If you would like more information, you can buy the book by Luis Utrilla, Historia del Aeropuerto de Jerez de la Frontera (History of Jerez de la Frontera Airport)
