Le deuxième aéroport de France pensera toujours à vous en premier
Background
It is all too easy to forget
that the airport's beginnings are tied in with the historical
development of the city of Nice, and that the curve tracing
out the region's development mirrors that of traffic growth
at the airport.
1902
Captain
Ferber used the Nice-Californie airfield,
commencing the region's aviation adventure.
1920
The
airfield was christened: "Champ d'aviation de
la Californie". The grass runway was 700 metres
long.
1936
First commercial
flights - to Toulouse and Bordeaux. Passenger
facilities evolved hand-in-hand with progress
in the mode of transport. As it was hardly fitting
for passengers to be catered for in a hastily
set up corner of a hangar, premises close to the
airfield were either purchased or rented. Another
activity linked to aviation soon developed: oil
companies selling and supplying aircraft oils
and fuels.
1944
A
1,350-metre runway was brought into service for
the Allied Forces' bombers.
1945
Air
France moved in. The runway was reinforced and
extended to 1,700 metres. The airfield was now
called Nice Le Var.
1955
The airport adopted the
new name of Nice Côte d'Azur, and boasted
facilities to cater for over 500,000 passengers.
The Chamber of Commerce constructed an air
terminal and extended the runway to 2,200
metres.
1961
Over
12 acres of land were reclaimed from the sea to
the east in order to lengthen the runway to 2,685
metres for the first four-engined planes (B707,
DC8).
1973
Runway
extended to 3,000 metres after 60 acres were reclaimed
from the sea and the River Var to the west. Bigger
planes (B747, DC10, etc.) could now use the airport's
infrastructures.
1983
New
South Runway brought into service (2,960 metres)
running parallel to the old one with a gap of
482.5 metres.
1987
Terminal
2 inaugurated. Dedicated to the Paris-Nice route
with Air France and Air Inter.
1991
New
cargo terminal inaugurated.
1992
New
control tower opened. New Terminal 1 inaugurated
for international traffic.
