Gibraltar International Airport

GIB originated during WWII, as the territory was an important naval base for the British. It opened in 1939, and although it was originally used as an emergency airfield for the Royal Navy'sNavy's Fleet Air Arm, its runway was later extended (by reclaiming land from the Bay of Gibraltar), thereby allowing larger aircraft to land. The original terminal was built in 1959 and was refurbished in the late 1990s. Traditionally, the primary airline operating out of GIB was Monarch. On November 3rd, 2003, it announced a new route to Manchester, the first route from GIB to the North of England (the route was discontinued on July 19th, 2006 due to high costs, but resumed on September 12th, 2008, operating three to five times per week, depending on the season). On September 18th, 2006, the Córdoba Accord was signed between the governments of Gibraltar, the UK, and Spain, ending all discriminatory restrictions on civilian flights to GIB. This included prohibiting flights over Spanish soil and excluding Gibraltar from all EU agreements on air transport. As a result of the agreement, civilian flights from all nations were now allowed into GIB. Shortly after the agreement was signed, Iberia announced that it would start flights to GIB from Madrid, the first time a Spanish airline flew into the airport since 1979 due to its disputed status. Flights began on December 16th, 2006, with some members of the Spanish government aboard the initial flight, while GB Airways flew a symbolic one-off flight in the other direction with a group of children from the Gibraltar area. The Iberia route to GIB was discontinued on September 28th, 2008, due to a lack of demand, leaving GIB without any air links to Spain. The link was restored in April 2009 via Ándalus Líneas Aéreas, with a route to Madrid (and in July, another route to Barcelona). However, by April 2010, both routes were no longer served due to a lack of demand. Another attempt at a new route was undertaken by Bmibaby, with flights from GIB to the East Midlands starting on March 31st, 2012. Unfortunately, the route ended on September 8th, 2012, after the airline couldn'tcouldn't find a buyer and was closed by the International Airlines Group. A new route to Birmingham was announced by Monarch on August 14th, 2012, operating three times per week. On September 26th, 2012, the new terminal building became fully functional, replacing the old building (which was demolished in February 2014). The new terminal building is 380,000 square feet and has the capacity to serve 1.5 million annual passengers. On April 19th, 2015 easyJet began a new route to Bristol Airport. An old route was re-established in March 2015, as Royal Air Maroc began twice-weekly intercontinental flights to Tangier, which would offer connecting flights to their hub in Casablanca. The runway was resurfaced between September 2015 and January 2016, with work taking place overnight. On July 3rd, 2016 easyJet began a new twice-weekly route to Manchester, putting it in direct competition with Monarch. That same month Monarch began service to London-Gatwick, operating four times per week. However, this was short-lived, as, on October 2nd, 2017, Monarch ceased all operations and went into administration, with all flights canceled. This was a blow to GIB, as Monarch had operated a third of all flights to the airport. Some of the void left by Monarch was filled by easyJet, which began a twice-weekly route to London-Luton in December 2018, with another route announced to Edinburgh on December 11th, 2019 (it was supposed to start on March 31st, 2020, yet due to COVID-19 only began on June 5th, 2021). The London-Luton route was discontinued due to the pandemic and Wizz Air's competition. A new thrice-weekly route to Málaga began on October 30th, 2020, via Hélity. In May 2021, two new routes, to Southampton and Birmingham, were initiated by Eastern Airways, making up for another lost route (Birmingham) left behind by Monarch.

The airport is located 1.2 miles north of the town square. 

• On 10 January 2012, Gibraltar was selected as one of the 'World's Scariest Airport Landings and Takeoffs in the travel section of the Daily Telegraph due to its runway, which extends into the sea. Moreover, GIB was ranked fifth on the History Channel's Most Extreme Airports. 
• Winston Churchill Avenue, the main road heading towards the border with Spain, intersects GIB's runway, making it the only airport in the world with this issue. As such, the road has to be closed during takeoffs and departures. 
• Ground support facilities for business and general aviation purposes at GIB are handled by Gibair Handling.