Business news - Ryanair to become first airline to fly to Spain's ghost airport

Budget carrier comes to rescue of Castellón airport, which opened in 2011 but lay unused for years and became an emblem of reckless spending before recession

Castellón–Costa Azahar airport, which was commissioned by the local politician Carlos Fabra, now in prison for tax fraud.

Ryanair is set to become the first airline to operate scheduled flights from the Spanish “ghost airport” of Castellón.

The Irish carrier will announce plans on Wednesday to fly from the airport, which cost €150m (£107m) to build but stood empty for almost four years and is widely regarded as a symbol of regional governments’ profligacy during Spain’s long-gone property boom.

Flights will link the UK and other northern European countries to the airport, which lies north of the city of Valencia on Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

Castellón–Costa Azahar airport was one of the Valencia region’s many grand and largely gratuitous building projects: the city of 800,000 people already had one airport with another in nearby Alicante serving a similar market. The city also built a Sydney-style opera house and Europe’s largest aquarium during Spain’s years of property-fuelled boom years, before the financial crisis left the country’s economy in tatters.

The airport was commissioned by the leader of Castellón province, Carlos Fabra, a member of the ruling right-wing People’s party, and was officially declared open in March 2011. Fabra is now serving time in prison for tax fraud. Fabra also commissioned a 24-metre-high copper sculpture to stand outside the airport – widely believed to be of himself – at public expense.

The first commercial flight at the airport, which is now under the management of the Canadian engineering conglomerate SNC-Lavalin, took place in January 2015 – a charter flight carrying the staff and squad of the football club Villarreal to a match in San Sebastián, northern Spain.

A Ryanair spokesman confirmed that the airline was due to hold a press conference at Castellón airport on Wednesday, but said: “Ryanair does not comment upon or engage in rumour or speculation.”

Ryanair has announced a change of strategy to start flying to more primary, city-centre airports, but their use of Castellón appears to be bucking that trend. However, the airline’s low-cost business model has long relied on securing minimal landing charges at airports across Europe, from rural France to London’s Stansted, with a pledge to deliver customers and growth.