Paris-Le Bourget Airport Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-54 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Groupe ADP | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Le Bourget | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 220 ft / 67 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 48°58?10?N 002°26?29?E / 48.96944°N 2.44139°ECoordinates: 48°58?10?N 002°26?29?E / 48.96944°N 2.44139°E | ||||||||||||||||||
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  LBG Location of Paris-Le Bourget Airport | |||||||||||||||||||
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Paris-Le Bourget Airport (French: Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget) (IATA: LBG, ICAO: LFPB) is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) north-northeast[2] (NNE) of Paris, France.
Once Paris's principal airport, it is now used only for general aviation, including business jet operations. It also hosts air shows, most notably the Paris Air Show. The airport is operated by Groupe ADP under the brand Paris Aéroport.
History
The airport started commercial operations in 1919 and was Paris's only airport until the construction of Orly Airport in 1932. It is famous as the landing site for Charles Lindbergh's historic solo transatlantic crossing in 1927 in the Spirit of St. Louis, and had been the departure point two weeks earlier for the French biplane L'Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird), which took off in an attempt at a transatlantic flight, but then mysteriously disappeared.[3]Howard Hughes flew the second nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1939, landing at Le Bourget and thereafter continuing onward to Moscow.[4]
On 25 June 1940, Adolf Hitler began his first and only tour of Paris, with Albert Speer and an entourage, from Le Bourget Airport.[5]
Due to capacity constraints at Le Bourget, Air France transferred all of its operations to Orly in 1952.[6]
The Paris Air Show was first held at Le Bourget in 1953, having previously been held at the Grand Palais prior to World War II, and at Orly after the war.[7]
On 16 June 1961, the Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected at Le Bourget Airport.[8]
In 1977, Le Bourget was closed to international airline traffic and in 1980 to regional airline traffic, but continues serving both domestic and international business aviation. Since 1975, Le Bourget Airport has hosted the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, France's main state-owned aviation museum. Following the discontinuation of regular commercial traffic in 1977, space available to house museum collections and displays has progressively increased.[9][10]
The airport hosts a statue commemorating Frenchwoman Raymonde de Laroche who was the first woman to earn a pilot's licence. There is also a monument honouring Lindbergh, as well as Nungesser and Coli, pilots of The White Bird.[11]
On 14 April 2016, the Groupe ADP rolled out the Connect 2020 corporate strategy and the commercial brand Paris Aéroport was applied to all Parisian airports, including Le Bourget airport.[12]
Le Bourget has been called "The Teterboro of Europe" because of role it plays in accepting all the business aviation flying into Paris, and the support base.[13]
Facilities
The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) is headquartered in Building 153 on the grounds of Le Bourget Airport and in Le Bourget.[14][15] Le Bourget Airport hosts the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, which is also located in the commune of Le Bourget.[16]
Accidents and incidents
- Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière was killed in 1941 when his plane crashed on takeoff near Le Bourget Airport.
- On 29 August 1948, SNCASE Languedoc P/7 F-BATG of Air France crashed at Le Bourget.
- On 7 April 1952, SNCASE Languedoc P/7F-BATB of Air France was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway on take-off. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Le Bourget to Heathrow Airport, London.[17]
- On 3 June 1973 a supersonic Tupolev Tu-144 crashed during an aerial display at the Paris Air Show, in an incident known as the 1973 Paris Air Show crash.
- On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 attempted to divert to Le Bourget before it crashed shortly after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport.
In popular culture
- Le Bourget Airport is the base for the "Paris Airshow Demonstration Flight" mission supplied with Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
- Le Bourget Airport features in the opening sequence of The Protectors episode Your Witness
- La Bourget features heavily in Agatha Christie's 1935 novel, Death in the Clouds.
- The titular aircraft in Airport '79: Concorde had suffered hydraulic failure during the attack by the rogue F-4 Phantom jet and barreled through two arresting barricades, being stopped, just barely, by the third.
- Le Bourget Airport appears in The Da Vinci Code film directed by Ron Howard.
See also
References
- ^ LFPB - PARIS LE BOURGET. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 5 November 2020.
- ^ a b EAD Basic
- ^ Godspeed, Charles and Francois. "The Secret of The White Bird." aero-news.net, 9 May 2006. Retrieved: 16 January 2009.
- ^ "The Boise City News - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2020.
- ^ "Hitler Tours Paris, 1940". Eyewitnesstohistory.com. Retrieved 2012.
- ^ "Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport - Part 1". A VISUAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S GREAT AIRPORTS. Retrieved 2020.
- ^ 2005-06-07T00:00:00+01:00. "Making history". Flight Global. Retrieved 2020.
- ^ "1961 - Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West". Nureyev.org. Retrieved 2018.
- ^ fr:Musée de l'air et de l'espace
- ^ "Présentation". Musée Air et Espace. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015. Retrieved 2015.
- ^ "Nungesser & Coli Vanish Two Weeks Before Lindbergh Crosses The Atlantic". Documenting Reality. Retrieved 2018.
- ^ Charlotte Turner (19 April 2016). "ADP reveals rebrand and opens Orly South Pier". Trbusiness.com. Retrieved 2018.
- ^ Esler, David (20 August 2019). "Storied Le Bourget Is Europe's Premier Business Aviation Facility". Aviation Week. Retrieved 2019.
- ^ "Plan d'accès au BEA Archived 20 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine." Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile. Retrieved on 17 June 2010.
- ^ "header_logo_et_coord.gif Archived 21 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile. Retrieved on 17 June 2010.
- ^ "Address and Directions Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Musée de l'air et de l'espace. Retrieved on 9 September 2010.
- ^ "F-BATB Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2014.
External links
- Aéroports de Paris (official site) (in English)
- Aéroport de Paris-Le Bourget (Union des Aéroports Français) (in French)
- Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace) (in French)
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