Zaragoza Air Base

Zaragoza Air Base
Part of Spanish Air Force (Spanish: Ejército del Aire; "Army of the Air")
Located near Zaragoza, Spain
Zaragoza AB Location of Zaragoza Air Base, Spain
Coordinates	41°39′58″N 01°02′30″W / 41.66611°N 1.04167°W / 41.66611; -1.04167Coordinates: 41°39′58″N 01°02′30″W / 41.66611°N 1.04167°W / 41.66611; -1.04167
Type	Air Force Base
Site history
Built	1954
In use	1954-1992

Zaragoza Air Base (IATA: ZAZ, ICAO: LEZG) is a base of the Spanish Air Force located near Zaragoza, Spain. It is located 16 kilometres (10 mi) west of Zaragoza, 270 km (168 mi) west of Barcelona, and 262 km (163 mi) northeast of Madrid.

Zaragoza is a major base for the Spanish Air Force. Ala 15 (15 Wing) flies two squadrons with eighteen McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets each. Today it also functions as Zaragoza Airport. The U.S. Air Force left, in agreement with the Spanish government, in April 1992.

The construction work on Zaragoza Airport began in September 1954 with the enlargement and improvement of the existing Spanish Air Force Base located there. United States Navy engineers upgraded the facility for temporary or intermediate use as a war standby base. The first U.S. construction project included strengthening the existing 3,024 m (9,921 ft) runway and adding 304 m (1,000 ft) overruns at each end. Work on a new concrete runway, 61 by 3,718 metres (200 ft × 12,200 ft), with 61 m (200 ft) overruns at each end, began in 1956 and was completed in 1958.

Zaragoza Air Base was a NASA Alternate Space Shuttle Landing Site. Typically this would be used as a Trans-atlantic Abort Landing (TAL) site, although fortunately this was never needed during the Shuttle program. To be chosen as a TAL site, an air base has to meet a number of requirements. For starters, its runway needs to be a minimum of 7,500 feet long. The weather around the base should typically be good landing conditions for the shuttle (clear, low wind speeds, etc.). The base also must have a military-grade Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) system, and be adaptable to special guidance devices NASA uses with the shuttles.

Zaragoza Air Base was transferred from the control of the Joint United States Military Group, Air Administration (Spain), Sixteenth Air Force, to the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command on 1 July 1957, with the facility providing operational support for SAC Boeing B-47 Stratojet alert force dispersal. Zaragoza was under SAC's 65th Air Division. Support continued for B-47 operations until 1 July 1964, when Zaragoza AB was placed on standby status with the withdrawal of the B-47 from active service.