Flight Simulator Flights at LFAC Calais-Dunkerque Airport

Calais-Dunkerque Airport lies at Marck, close to the Channel coast a few miles east-northeast of Calais, and was once a busy cross-Channel gateway for car-ferry flights before quieting into a general aviation and training field. It offers a single well-marked hard runway and straightforward VFR access for pilots crossing to or from southeast England.

Overview

Calais-Dunkerque Airport serves the twin towns of Calais and Dunkerque from its position at Marck in the Pas-de-Calais. It is a modest but historically significant field, having once handled scheduled cross-Channel car-ferry flights, and today it is of interest to sim pilots as a convenient, low-traffic French coastal airfield within easy reach of the English coast.

Airspace & Location

The airfield sits at Marck, about 7 km east-northeast of Calais, in the Hauts-de-France region close to the Pas-de-Calais coastline. It lies within range of Lille Approach airspace, and pilots operating in the area should expect to work with Lille Approach when transiting to or from the local circuit.

Runways

Calais-Dunkerque has a single physical runway, 06/24, of hard surface construction measuring 5040 ft in length. Both directions are lit, making the runway usable for operations in low-light conditions. The field elevation is 10 ft.

Radio & Navigation

Lille Approach can be contacted on 120.275 MHz. The airfield's own tower operates on 128.925 MHz, and an ATIS broadcast is available on 135.45 MHz. There is no ILS at Calais-Dunkerque, so approaches are flown visually or by other non-precision means.

History

Calais-Dunkerque Airport enjoyed a lively period in the 1950s and early 1960s as a hub for cross-Channel car-ferry flights, operated by private airlines including Silver City Airways and Channel Air Bridge, which later merged to form British United Air Ferries. In more recent times the field gained a moment of aviation notoriety when, on 9 July 2015, the Airbus E-Fan electric aircraft landed here after a flight from Lydd Airport in Kent; this was initially reported as the first electric aircraft crossing of the English Channel, though it was later noted that earlier electric flights had made the crossing, one as far back as 1981.

The Airfield Today

The airport retains its single asphalt runway, 06/24, and continues to support general aviation activity in the Calais-Dunkerque area.