Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Toulouse-Blagnac is a major international airport on the northwestern edge of Toulouse, partly within the commune of Blagnac, and is one of the principal hubs of the French aerospace industry, serving as an Airbus and ATR production and delivery centre alongside its scheduled airline traffic. For the visiting sim pilot it offers a rare combination of very long hard runways, full ILS approaches and a busy mix of airliners, business jets and factory test flights.
Toulouse-Blagnac (ICAO: LFBO) is a large international airport serving Toulouse Métropole in the Occitanie region of France. It functions both as a commercial gateway, with scheduled services across Europe and beyond, and as a hub for Airbus Industrie, which manufactures and test-flies aircraft from facilities adjoining the field. This dual role, together with its very long paired runways and full instrument approach facilities, makes it a substantial and interesting destination for a simulator pilot flying airliners or general aviation types into a genuinely major European airport.
The airport lies about 3.6 nautical miles west-northwest of central Toulouse, straddling the commune of Blagnac and the department of Haute-Garonne within the Occitanie region of France. As a large international airport handling scheduled airline traffic it sits within controlled airspace with its own approach and tower services.
Toulouse-Blagnac has three physical runways. The main pair, 14R/32L, is 11,480 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with ILS. The parallel pair, 14L/32R, is 9,942 feet long, also hard-surfaced, lit and ILS-equipped. A much shorter grass runway, 14/32, of around 962 to 966 feet, lit, completes the field's runway complement. Airbus and ATR use the 32L/14R runway for flight testing and delivery flights, including formation flights, with the Airbus Delivery Center located on that side of the airport, while 32R/14L is the runway generally used by inbound commercial traffic.
Toulouse-Blagnac is served by Toulouse Approach on 121.1 MHz and 125.175 MHz, with an ATIS broadcast on 123.125 MHz. Ground and clearance delivery operate on 121.9 MHz, with an additional ground frequency of 121.7 MHz, and Tower operates on 118.1 MHz. An AFIS service is also listed on 121.25 MHz. Both main runways are equipped with ILS, supporting instrument approaches in addition to visual operations.
Toulouse-Blagnac Airport opened on 1 September 1939 and has since grown into one of France's most important airports, closely tied to the development of the national and European aerospace industry as a hub for Airbus Industrie. On 15 November 2007, a brand-new Airbus A340-600 destined for delivery to Etihad Airways ran up and over a concrete blast-deflection wall during an engine test at the adjacent Airbus factory, after the crew raised all four engines to maximum thrust with the wheels unchocked; the aircraft was written off and five people were injured, an incident that illustrates the close and sometimes hazardous relationship between the airport and the aircraft manufacturing operations based alongside it.
Today Toulouse-Blagnac operates as a major international airport, serving as a focus city for Air France, easyJet, Ryanair and Volotea, with scheduled flights to some 80 or more destinations across Europe, North Africa and a number of long-haul routes. Airbus and ATR continue to use runway 32L/14R for flight testing and aircraft delivery, with the Airbus Delivery Center situated on that side of the field, while commercial arrivals generally use runway 32R/14L. The airport's substantial infrastructure, including full ILS approaches on both main runways, reflects its status as a significant hub for both airline operations and aircraft manufacturing.
