Nantes Atlantique Airport

Nantes Atlantique Airport (IATA: NTE, ICAO: LFRS) (French: Aéroport Nantes Atlantique, formerly known as Aéroport Château Bougon) is an international airport serving Nantes, France. It is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of the city, in Bouguenais.

The airport is operated by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Nantes. It is currently the largest airport in the west of France, with a maximum capacity of three million passengers a year. In 2013, the airport handled 3,930,849 passengers, an increase of 8.2% compared to 2012.

History

Nantes airport owes its origins to a military airfield, conceived in 1928 on part of the current site. In 1936/7 the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques de l'Ouest opened an aircraft factory adjacent to the airfield, initially building MB.210 bombers, followed by M.S.406 fighters and LeO 45 bombers. In 1939 the first paved runway was constructed, with a length of 900 m (2,953 ft).

During World War II the airfield was briefly used as a British Royal Air Force base before being captured by German forces. Under occupation the aircraft factory was closed, and the airfield was used by the Luftwaffe as a base to bomb targets in England. As a consequence the airfield was hit by a damaging air raid on July 4, 1943, which also destroyed the adjoining aircraft factory.