Setúbal, PT 🇵🇹 Closed Airport
PT-0059
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- ft
PT-15
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 38.494813° N, -8.819296° E
Continent: EU
Type: Closed Airport
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The airport was not closed on a specific, publicly announced date but rather fell into disuse over time. Analysis of historical satellite imagery indicates it was likely active until the early 2010s. By 2013-2015, the runway shows clear signs of neglect and abandonment, suggesting operations ceased in that period.
The closure was due to economic and corporate reasons. The airstrip was privately owned by SAPEC (Sociedade Anónima de Produtos e Adubos Químicos). The company underwent significant restructuring, culminating in the sale of its agro-business division in 2016. The private airstrip was likely deemed an unnecessary operational expense and a non-essential asset during this corporate evolution, leading to its abandonment.
The site is completely abandoned as an aviation facility. The runway, though its outline is still faintly visible on satellite images, is overgrown with vegetation, broken up, and entirely unusable. The land has been repurposed for agricultural and industrial use. A large solar farm (Parque Fotovoltaico) has been constructed on the land immediately south of the former runway, and the surrounding area is actively used for farming and industry.
The airstrip's significance was purely corporate and local. It was built and operated by SAPEC to serve its large industrial and agricultural complex in Setúbal. Its primary operations included:
1. **Executive Transport:** Facilitating quick travel for company executives and visitors to and from the Setúbal facilities using small private aircraft.
2. **Agricultural Aviation:** Serving as a base for crop-dusting and other aerial application aircraft, directly supporting SAPEC's core business in fertilizers and crop protection products for the surrounding fertile agricultural region.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the Pista da SAPEC. The runway is in a state of complete disrepair, and the land has been partially redeveloped for other purposes (notably, renewable energy). Given the lack of the original corporate need and the significant investment required to restore it, a return to aviation use is considered extremely unlikely.
The runway is closed and is divided by concrete blocks in 3 sections of ~300 meters, better avoid.
Found information that the airstrip belonged and was originally built by the local corporation "SAPEC, Químicos" (local chemical factory).
Closed airfield in what is nowadays the industrial port area of the city of Setúbal. Couldn't find any information regarding the airfield's history or actual name, nor date of closure.