Beauvais–Tillé Airport

German use during World War II This airport was built in the 1930s and seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France. Beauvais was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftflotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV): • Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) June – 24 October 1940 Dornier Do 17Z-2 (Fuselage Code: F1+) • Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (SKG 1) July 1940 Junkers Ju 87B Stuka The initial German use of the airport was as a bomber base. kg 76 and SKG 1 both took part in the Battle 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. • Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG 26) September 1940 – February 1941 Heinkel He 111H (Fuselage Code: 1H+) • Kampfgeschwader 77 (KG 77) 3–22 March 1941 Junkers Ju 88A-1 (Fuselage Code: 3A+) • Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4) 30 June – 19 July 1941 Heinkel He 111H (Fuselage Code: 5J+) • Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) 9 July – 16 August 1942 Junkers Ju 88A-1 (Fuselage Code: B3+) • Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6) December 1942 – February 1943 Junkers Ju 88A-1 (Fuselage Code: K6+) 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). American use It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 3 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the United 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 as Advanced Landing Ground "A-61" about 15 September, also being known as "Beauvais/Tille Airfield". From Beauvais, the Ninth Air Force 322d Bombardment Group flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers from mid-September until March 1945. 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. ==Facilities==

Control tower 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. Runway The main runway has an Instrument landing system CAT III for runway 12 and CAT I for runway 30 plus a Precision 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. Terminal When the low-cost airline Ryanair chose Beauvais–Tillé in May 1997 for three daily connections with Dublin, 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 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. 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. ==Airlines and destinations==

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Beauvais–Tillé Airport: ==Statistics==

Passengers Movements ==Access==

Road transport 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 the Palais des Congrès at Porte Maillot, located in the 17th arrondissement, approximately a kilometre west of the Arc de Triomphe. There are also minibus and shuttle services that go to Paris. There is also a taxi rank at the airport. A commuter bus provided by the Transports Urbains du Beauvaisis runs to Beauvais town centre: • Line 12: Mairie – Zone d'activités des Tilleuls – Tillé – Aéroport • Airport Shuttle: Airport – Parc Municipal – Maillart – Cathédrale – Mairie (City Hall) – Gare SNCF (railway station) – Kennedy – Descartes – Délie – Saint-Germain – Elispace – Airport Railway connection Beauvais railway station is situated almost away, with connections to Paris Gare du Nord, Amiens and other destinations. ==See also==