Aéroport Châteauroux-Centre

Châteauroux-Centre Airport (IATA CHR, ICAO LFLX) is an international airport at Déols in central France. It opened in 1936. The Centre Val de Loire regional council owns it today. The airport focuses on air freight and aircraft maintenance. It is also a popular place for pilot training.

The airport has 66 employees, including ramp agents, firefighters, operations and AFIS staff, infrastructure staff, administrators and a sales team. Customs officers are present on request, through a border inspection point.

Air freight is a large part of the work. The runway is 3,500 metres long and can take the biggest cargo aircraft, such as the Boeing 747 and the Antonov 124. The airport has nearly 8,000 square metres of warehouse space. It handles general cargo, oversize cargo and perishable goods, with 500 square metres of cold storage. It is also one of few airports with its own rail line on site, with three tracks of 600 metres. The line links to the Paris, Orléans, Limoges and Toulouse railway 3 km away, so freight can move by rail and air. Motorway access adds more options.

Dale Aviation and Vallair Industry do aircraft maintenance. Satys paints aircraft. Egide Aviation maintains light aircraft. The airport also supports aircraft storage, dismantling and recycling. A hangar that can take an A380 is being built, along with a new 42 metre control tower. A further 40 hectares of land is available for aviation firms that want to build close to the runway.

The clear airspace and good weather make the airport suited to pilot training. Airlines, the French Air and Space Force and business aviation use it for take-off and landing practice. Classrooms are available, and the team offers briefings. Aircraft from light planes to the A380 can use the runway.

The 357 hectare site is also open to other industries for flight tests, filming and similar projects. Prices are given on request.

The airport receives between 5,000 and 8,000 passengers a year, on flights to places such as Corsica, Croatia, Portugal and Greece, plus business aviation flights. Car parking is free.

Services

• Air freight
• Cargo warehousing
• Cold storage
• Rail and air freight
• Aircraft maintenance
• Aircraft storage
• Aircraft painting
• Dismantling and recycling
• Pilot training
• Flight tests and filming