Tours Loire Valley Airport

Tours Val de Loire Airport Aéroport Tours Val de Loire Base Aérienne 604 Tours Val de Loire
IATA: TUF ICAO: LFOT
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Operator	Ministère de la Défense (FAF)
Serves	Tours, France
Elevation AMSL	357 ft / 109 m
Coordinates	47°25′55″N 000°43′23″E / 47.43194°N 0.72306°E / 47.43194; 0.72306Coordinates: 47°25′55″N 000°43′23″E / 47.43194°N 0.72306°E / 47.43194; 0.72306
Website	www.tours.aeroport.fr
Maps
Location of Centre-Val de Loire region in France
LFOT Location of airport in Centre-Val de Loire region
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 02/20 2,404 7,887 Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Passengers 184,122 Passenger Change 13-14 1.3%
Source: French AIP

Passengers	184,122
Passenger Change 13-14	1.3%

Tours Val de Loire Airport (French: Aéroport Tours Val de Loire) (IATA: TUF, ICAO: LFOT) is an airport in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, 6 km (3.2 NM) north-northeast of the city of Tours in the Loire Valley (Val de Loire). The airport is located partly on the territory of the communes of Tours and Parçay-Meslay.

The airport is open to both national and international carriers, private planes and is certified for both instrument flight and visual flight.

The airport dates back to World War I, being established as a French Air Force (Armee de l'Air) training center. The center trained many French aviators and some Americans who had volunteered prior to the American entry in the war into the French flying service. In the summer of 1917, the school was provided to the American Expeditionary Forces, which designated the school as the Second Aviation Instructional Center, Tours Aerodrome. Initially it was used as an advanced training school for pursuit pilot combat training. Later it developed into a center of training for all aerial observers of the Air Service, United States Army assigned to the AEF. It also was used as a Radio School, a Photographic school and an Aerial Gunnery school. After the 1918 Armistice with Germany, it was returned to the French Air Force which used it as a military base.