Getafe Air Base

Getafe Air Base is a military airbase located in Getafe, 14 km south of Madrid, Spain. The air base, at an altitude of 620 m above sea level, has a single runway with a length of 3.06 km. It was one of the first military air bases in Spain and, because of that, is considered the "cradle" of Spanish aviation.

The base was inaugurated in 1911 (20 years before Madrid Barajas International Airport) and two years later the Civil Aviation School was created.

Military use
The US Military Assistance Program (MAP) gave the Spanish Air Force 12 C-119F transports in 1955-56. The Spanish Air Force never flew the aircraft. They decided they did not want the C-119s and so a decision was made to move the aircraft to the SABENA facility in Brussels for Iran and eventual transfer to the Jordanian Air Force.

In summer 1957, 12 two-pilot plus flight engineer crews flew to Gatafe from Evreux, France, for the purpose of a one time flight to the SABENA facility at the Brussels airport.

Civil use
Nowadays, apart from military use, an EADS CASA factory is situated next to the base. It commonly uses the facilities to transport Airbus aircraft parts to Toulouse. In another factory next to the base, the Spanish Eurofighter Typhoons are assembled. The air traffic is light and mainly military.

Garrison
The main military unit to operate from Getafe is the "Ala 35" transport wing, which operates CASA CN-235 (two units for VIP missions, eighteen units for transport) and EADS CASA C-295 (nine units for transport).

In 2008, most CN-235s moved to other Spanish Air Force bases and a second squadron of C-295s was formed. Several other units have also been placed at Getafe including the Cartographic Center's fleet from Cuatro Vientos Air Base a few kilometers from Getafe itself.