Beauvais–Tillé Airport (French:Aéroport de Beauvais-Tillé[bovɛtije])[5][6] (IATA:BVA,ICAO:LFOB), branded asParis–Beauvais Airport,[7] is aninternational airport near the city ofBeauvais in thecommune ofTillé inFrance. In 2016, it was the tenth busiest airport in France, handling 3,997,856 passengers,[8] and is mostly used by charter and low-cost airlines.
Beauvais-Tillé Airport Terminal Seen From Above
Despite its brand name, the airport is located in theHauts-de-France region and 69 km (43 mi) north-northwest ofParis.
This airport was built in the 1930s and seized by the Germans in June 1940 during theBattle of France. Beauvais was used as aLuftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftflotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):[9][10]
Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (SKG 1) July 1940Junkers Ju 87B Stuka
The initial German use of the airport was as a bomber base. kg 76 and SKG 1 both took part in theBattle of Britain. kg 76 was reduced to 19 out of 29 serviceable machines by 18 August 1940. kg 76 raided London on 7 and 15 September 1940.
With the Luftwaffe switching to night attacks on England, the badly damaged units at Beauvais were replaced by a series of He 111 and Ju 88A units that carried out anti-shipping missions (KG 26, KG 77) and night bombing missions over England (KG 4, KG 54, KG 6).[9]
The increasing number and frequency of USAAF Eighth Air ForceBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress andConsolidated B-24 Liberator daylight heavy bomber raids over occupied Europe and Germany made the Luftwaffe move out the bomber units and assign day interceptor fighter units to attack the American bombers as part of theDefense of the Reich. After theinvasion of Normandy, elements of JG 1 were moved to France and were tasked with providing air support to the German army, along with their normal air defense role against Allied bombers.[9]
In response to the interceptor attacks, Beauvais was attacked by USAAFNinth Air ForceMartin B-26 Marauder medium bombers andRepublic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers with 500-pound general-purpose bombs, unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps whenEighth Air Force heavy bombers were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also theNorth American P-51 Mustang fighter-escort groups ofEighth Air Force would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep.[11]
It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 3 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, theUnited States Army Air Forces IX Engineer Command 818th Engineer Aviation Battalion cleared the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. Little battle damage was sustained, and the airport became a USAAF Ninth Air Force combat airfield, designated asAdvanced Landing Ground "A-61" about 15 September, also being known as "Beauvais/Tille Airfield".[12][13]
From Beauvais, the Ninth Air Force322d Bombardment Group flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers from mid-September until March 1945.[14] Once the combat unit moved east, the airport was used by transport units, flying in supplies from England and evacuating combat casualties on the return trip. The Americans returned full control of the airport to French authorities on 17 August 1945.[14]
In 1950, the Air Ministry offered to provide the wartime air base toNATO as part of theCold War development of the alliance.[citation needed]
Demolition crews arrived and removed the wartime wreckage, and any unexploded munitions were removed from the site. Funding shortages did not allow the construction of an 8,000 feet (2,400 m) jet runway, dispersal pads and other features found at a modern military airfield. Instead, in 1953, the NATO plans for Beauvais were discontinued and the airport was returned to private hands.[15]
The new control tower has been active since 22 January 2019. It is located on the southern side of the airport and replaced the tower from 1962, which sat between the two terminals.
The main runway has anInstrument landing systemCAT III for runway 12 and CAT I for runway 30 plus aPrecision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) for both runways. This enables aircraft to land at the airport in bad weather conditions, with visibility as low as 75 metres.
When the low-cost airlineRyanair chose Beauvais–Tillé in May 1997 for three daily connections withDublin, the terminal of this regional airport consisted of a simple hangar built in 1979. Since then four additional stations for planes and in 2010 a second terminal of 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft) had to be built to face a significant increase in traffic. The airport is equipped to handle medium-sized passenger jets. Since 2007 the ban on night flying has been strictly enforced for the benefit of local residents. The terminal building closes between the hours of 23:30 and 06:30.[16] The airport has two terminals, some restaurants, snack bars, and shopping areas, both airside and in the publicly accessible area. An Ibis Budget hotel, which provides 78 rooms, has been built next to Terminal 2.[17]
The airport is linked with Paris city through coach and rail services. Travel time to Paris is 75 minutes by coach which drops off and collects passengers beside thePalais des Congrès atPorte Maillot, located in the17th arrondissement, approximately a kilometre west of theArc de Triomphe. There are alsominibus andshuttle services that go to Paris.
^Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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