Comandante Espora Airport

Comandante Espora Airport (IATA: BHI, ICAO: SAZB), also known as Bahía Blanca Airport, is a domestic airport in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, which is served by Aerolíneas Argentinas and LADE.

Comandante Espora Airport

Aeropuerto de Bahía Blanca - Comandante Espora
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
Owner/OperatorMunicipalidad de Bahía Blanca
ServesBahía Blanca, Argentina
Elevation AMSL246 ft / 75 m
Coordinates38°43′29″S 62°10′09″W
WebsiteAeropuertoBahiaBlanca.com
Map
BHI
Location of airport in Buenos Aires Province
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
06/24 2,030 6,660 Asphalt
17R/35L 1,498 4,915 Asphalt
17L/35R 2,616 8,583 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Passengers306,523
Passenger change 15–160.4%
Aircraft movements3,962
Movements change 15–1633.2%
Source: DAFIF,[1][2] 2010 World Airport Traffic Report.[3]

Espora is also the main base of the Argentine Naval Aviation, and was given the identifier BACE by the Argentine Navy.

History
The terminal

Comandante Espora Air Naval Base was built in the 1930s to replace the old Puerto Belgrano Air Naval Base, which could not support the newer aircraft that the Argentine Naval Aviation was adding. The new base was built in grounds close to the existing Bahía Blanca Airfield (Spanish: Aeródromo Civil de Bahía Blanca, also known as Villa Harding Green), located approximately 5 kilometers from Bahía Blanca and 25 kilometers from Puerto Belgrano Naval Base. The new airfield was opened on 16 June 1939 as per Decree Nº 33.684/939.[4]

Between 1945 and 1964 it was the location of the Naval Aviation School, and in 1970 the Naval Aviation Command headquarters were located at Comandante Espora.[4]

From 1968 it was opened to civil and commercial traffic replacing the old civil airstrip at Villa Harding Green, the installations and runway were expanded and in 1972 were released to the commercial traffic linking the Argentine South. In September 1977 new runway extensions that allow aircraft of Boeing 767 size were completed.[4] Terminal was reconstructed in 2013, and in July 2015, the two main runways (16R/34L and 16L/34R) changed its designation due to magnetic declination to 17R/35L and 17L/35R. The latter, being 2,616 m (8,583 ft) long was repaved in 2014, so was also runway 06/24, with a new illumination system that allows both runway to operate on night conditions.

At Comandante Espora Naval Aviation Air Base (BACE) the following units are located:[4]

  • Naval Aviation Command headquarters (Spanish: Comando de la Aviación Naval)
  • Second Naval Air Force (Spanish: Fuerza Aeronaval número 2)
  • Central Naval Air Workshop (Spanish: Taller Aeronaval Central)

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Aerolíneas Argentinas Buenos Aires–Aeroparque, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Cómodoro Rivadavia, Mar del Plata, Trelew, Ushuaia[5]
Seasonal: San Carlos de Bariloche

References
  1. Airport information for SAZB at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
  2. Airport information for BHI at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  3. Airport Council International's 2010 World Airport Traffic Report
  4. BASE AERONAVAL "COMANDANTE ESPORA" (BACE) - "Histarmar" website (in Spanish)(accessed 2015-08-09)
  5. AR adds Bahia Blanca and Ushuaia


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