Rennes - Saint-Jacques Airport
Encyclopedia
Rennes – Saint-Jacques Airport or Aéroport de Rennes - Saint-Jacques is an airport
about 6 km southwest of Rennes
, Ille-et-Vilaine
, in the region of Brittany, France
.
It is a national and international airport, open to regular and irregular flights, and to both private and passenger plans. The main runway can handle airplanes with up to around 180 passengers.
.
The secondary paved runway is suitable for light motorized planes (business and leisure).
Due to the raising traffic in the Nantes Atlantique Airport
(approaching its saturation), there is now an ongoing regional project to build a second large airport between Rennes
and Nantes
that will service both cities. This will require building faster and more frequent transit services with both cities and to their existing airports, through the modernization of the existing regional Rennes-Nantes railway link through Redon, and the interconnection with their fast TGV railway stations.
The Rennes airport is the 8th for the total of transported freight in 2010 :
which was used as a landing strip in Gayeulles, to the north-east of the city. In 1931 work started on a proper airport to service Rennes
, and a plot of 380,000 square metres in Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande
to the south-west of the city was acquired and building began. On July 28, 1933 the new airport was officially opened by Pierre Cot
.
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France
, Rennes airport was used as a Luftwaffe
military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):
JG 53 and KG 27 took part in operations over England
during the Battle of Britain
(10 July–31 October 1940); KG 26 and KG 77 also engaged in night aerial attacks over England during 1942; JG 11 and SKG 10 were interceptor units primarily engaging Eighth Air Force
heavy bomber (B-17; B-24) operations over Occupied Europe. In addition, numerous Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft FLAK
batteries were controlled from Rennes.
Rennes was attacked by Eighth Air Force
B-17 Flying Fortress bombers on 9 January 1944 (Mission 180), and was overflown on several night leaflet drops during the spring of 1944. The airport was also attacked during the Allied invasion of Normandy during June 1944 on several occasions by B-26 Marauder
medium bombers of IX Bomber Command, 323d Bombardment Group. The medium bombers would attack in coordinated raids, usually in the mid to late afternoon, with Eighth Air Force heavy bombers returning from attacking their targets in Germany
. The attack was timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the Luftwaffe interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also, the P-47 Thunderbolt
s of Ninth Air Force would be dispatched to perform fighter sweeps over Rennes after the Marauder raids, then meet up with the heavy bombers and provide fighter escort back to England
. As the P-51 Mustang
groups of Eighth Air Force began accompanying the heavy bombers all the way to their German targets by mid-1944, it was routine for them to also attack Rennes on their return back to England with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.
It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 7 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the United States Army Air Force IX Engineering Command 820th Engineer Aviation Battalion cleared the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. Subsequently, Rennes Airport became a USAAF Ninth Air Force
combat airfield, designated as "A-27" about 10 August.
Under American control, the 362d Fighter Group
operated P-47 Thunderbolts from the airport from 10 August though 19 September. In addition, the 10th Reconnaissance Group operated various photo-reconnaissance aircraft during August and September, and it became the headquarters of IX Air Defense Command
on 25 August. The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied campaign in Central and Eastern France, patrolling roads in front of the advancing ground forces; strafing German military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops.
The combat units moved out by the end of September and Rennes Airport was used as a supply and maintenance depot for American aircraft for several months, before being returned to French civil control on 30 November 1944. Completely reconstructed after the war, the airport returned to its normal civil use. Some World War II bomb craters can still be seen in grassy areas north of the main runway.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
about 6 km southwest of Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.- History :Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, in the region of Brittany, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
It is a national and international airport, open to regular and irregular flights, and to both private and passenger plans. The main runway can handle airplanes with up to around 180 passengers.
Runways
The main runway can be used by planes with up to around 180 passengers, and it is best fitted for middle-range flights. For cargo transportation services, it is suitable for planes like Boeing 737 and 727, or Ilyushin IL-76. It is equipped with ILSInstrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
.
The secondary paved runway is suitable for light motorized planes (business and leisure).
Competition and projects
This airport has some local competition with the Dinard Pleurtuit Saint-Malo Airport, on the Channel coast, preferred by low cost companies for passengers.Due to the raising traffic in the Nantes Atlantique Airport
Nantes Atlantique Airport
Nantes Atlantique Airport is an international airport serving Nantes, France. It is located southwest of the city, in Bouguenais.The airport is operated by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Nantes...
(approaching its saturation), there is now an ongoing regional project to build a second large airport between Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
and Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
that will service both cities. This will require building faster and more frequent transit services with both cities and to their existing airports, through the modernization of the existing regional Rennes-Nantes railway link through Redon, and the interconnection with their fast TGV railway stations.
Scheduled
Cargo
Traffic
The Rennes airport is the 19th for the total of transported passengers in 2005 :- 2003 : 378,699 passengers
- 2004 : 377,325 passengers
- 2005 : 407,678 passengers
The Rennes airport is the 8th for the total of transported freight in 2010 :
- 2004 : 12 620 tonnes
- 2005 : 12 250 tonnes
History
Before the construction of this airport, Rennes had a small hippodromeHippodrome
A hippodrome was a Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words "hippos and "dromos"...
which was used as a landing strip in Gayeulles, to the north-east of the city. In 1931 work started on a proper airport to service Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
, and a plot of 380,000 square metres in Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Bretagne in north-western France.-Demographics:Inhabitants of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande are called Jacquolandins or Jacolandins.-References:* * -External links:*...
to the south-west of the city was acquired and building began. On July 28, 1933 the new airport was officially opened by Pierre Cot
Pierre Cot
.Pierre Cot , French politician, was a leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s...
.
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, Rennes airport was used as a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):
- Jagdgeschwader 53Jagdgeschwader 53Jagdgeschwader 53 Pik-As was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean.Jagdgeschwader 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" Geschwader - was one of the oldest German fighter units of World War II with its origins going back to 1937...
(JG 53) July-23 August 1940 Messerschmitt Bf 109Messerschmitt Bf 109The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
E - Kampfgeschwader 27 (KG 27) 27 July 1940-April 1941 Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
P/H (Fuselage Code 1G+) - Kampfgeschwader 26Kampfgeschwader 26Kampfgeschwader 26 "Löwengeschwader" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in September–October 1944. It operated two of the major German bomber types; the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 88...
(KG 26) 26 April-June 1942 Heinkel He 111Heinkel He 111The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
H (Fuselage Code 1H+) - Kampfgeschwader 77Kampfgeschwader 77Kampfgeschwader 77 was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II.Its units participated on all of the major fronts in the European Theatre until its dissolution in 1944...
(KG 77) 30 May-30 June 1942 Junkers Ju 88Junkers Ju 88The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
A (Fuselage Code 3Z+)
- Schnellkampfgeschwader 10 (SKG 10) 10 April-11 June 1943 Focke-Wulf Fw 190Focke-Wulf Fw 190The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
A - Jagdgeschwader 11Jagdgeschwader 11Jagdgeschwader 11 was a German fighter wing of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Its primary role was the defense of Northern Germany against Allied day bomber raids...
(JG 11) 7-20 June 1944 Focke-Wulf Fw 190Focke-Wulf Fw 190The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
A
JG 53 and KG 27 took part in operations over England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
(10 July–31 October 1940); KG 26 and KG 77 also engaged in night aerial attacks over England during 1942; JG 11 and SKG 10 were interceptor units primarily engaging Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
heavy bomber (B-17; B-24) operations over Occupied Europe. In addition, numerous Luftwaffe Anti-Aircraft FLAK
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
batteries were controlled from Rennes.
Rennes was attacked by Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
B-17 Flying Fortress bombers on 9 January 1944 (Mission 180), and was overflown on several night leaflet drops during the spring of 1944. The airport was also attacked during the Allied invasion of Normandy during June 1944 on several occasions by B-26 Marauder
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
medium bombers of IX Bomber Command, 323d Bombardment Group. The medium bombers would attack in coordinated raids, usually in the mid to late afternoon, with Eighth Air Force heavy bombers returning from attacking their targets in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The attack was timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the Luftwaffe interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also, the P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s of Ninth Air Force would be dispatched to perform fighter sweeps over Rennes after the Marauder raids, then meet up with the heavy bombers and provide fighter escort back to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. As the P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
groups of Eighth Air Force began accompanying the heavy bombers all the way to their German targets by mid-1944, it was routine for them to also attack Rennes on their return back to England with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.
It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 7 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the United States Army Air Force IX Engineering Command 820th Engineer Aviation Battalion cleared the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. Subsequently, Rennes Airport became a USAAF Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
combat airfield, designated as "A-27" about 10 August.
Under American control, the 362d Fighter Group
362d Fighter Group
The 362d Fighter Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, stationed at Biggs Field, Texas. It was inactivated on 3 August 1946....
operated P-47 Thunderbolts from the airport from 10 August though 19 September. In addition, the 10th Reconnaissance Group operated various photo-reconnaissance aircraft during August and September, and it became the headquarters of IX Air Defense Command
IX Air Defense Command
The IX Air Defense Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Neustadt, Germany...
on 25 August. The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied campaign in Central and Eastern France, patrolling roads in front of the advancing ground forces; strafing German military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops.
The combat units moved out by the end of September and Rennes Airport was used as a supply and maintenance depot for American aircraft for several months, before being returned to French civil control on 30 November 1944. Completely reconstructed after the war, the airport returned to its normal civil use. Some World War II bomb craters can still be seen in grassy areas north of the main runway.
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground
External links
- Rennes Airport Travel Guide
- Rennes Aeroport (official site)
- Aéroport de Rennes - Saint-Jacques (Union des Aéroports Français)