Airport Profile: Aeroport de Sion

Although it seems that there are not many alternatives to big-city airports in Europe, small underutilized airports such as Sion, east of Geneva offer a warm and welcome reception for business aircraft that can’t find room at other airports or for pilots who enjoy flying off the beaten path. While Aéroport de Sion is 97 road miles (157 km) from Geneva, the drive is quick, all on an attractive freeway skirting the north (Swiss) side of gigantic Lac Leman and transiting the region where St. Bernards are raised.

The airport’s single runway is 6,562 feet long, and the elevation is 1,581 feet. For pilots arriving during inclement weather, there is one obstacle, and that is a requirement to fly a steep six-degree glideslope for the ILS Runway 25 approach, which begins 25.6 nm from the runway. The glide path lessens to 3.5 degrees 5.3 nm from the descent point. Pilots must receive training on the approach, too, which makes a pop-up trip to Sion difficult when the weather is below VFR minimums.

Sion’s busy season is during the winter months, according to Patricia Fellay, assistant airport director, because it is the nearest airport to popular ski resorts at Verbier and Zermatt. Four companies operate helicopters at Sion, and passengers often charter a helicopter to fly to the resorts.

Sion is also home to a unique search-and-rescue organization, Maison FXB du Sauvetage (house of rescue). Doctors, pilots, mountain guides and emergency medical technicians are all members of the Maison and use the association’s helicopters and ambulances for search-and-rescue operations in the Valais region.

A Gateway to Europe

Like many European airports, Sion provides all of the services on the airport, including fuel, although there also is an FBO–Alpine Jet Service–on the field. Fuel service is available at Alpine; the airport will send the fuel trucks to the FBO when called. Sion Airport and Alpine Jet split business aviation traffic about 50/50, according to Fellay. The airport sees about 4,000 business jet movements per year, although this has been increasing lately, with business jet movements up 72 percent last year over the previous year.

Europe’s many countries are so close together that it’s likely that a pilot arriving or departing is doing so to or from another country. This means that airports like Sion must offer customs and immigration services. Later this year, Sion’s terminal will have two separate arrival and departure zones, one for the 15 “Schengen” countries, which signed a treaty to eliminate border checkpoints and controls, and the other for non-Schengen countries. The Schengen countries consist of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Arriving aircraft using Alpine Jet can arrange for customs and immigration services at the FBO, Fellay said.

Noise is a critical issue at Sion and the airport has a number of restrictions that help quell it. Rules limit, for example, how long APUs can be run, and noise fees encourage pilots not to exceed limits.

Europe’s emphasis on environmental issues is evident at Sion. With the military occupying most of the airfield, there isn’t much room for growth on the commercial side and nearly all the land is spoken for. There is a grass runway for summer glider operations, and what seems like available open land is actually part of an extensive ecological compensation area.

The airport is working on developing a new section of ground, probably the last remaining area for commercial development. The project is currently in the administrative phase, with the airport seeking approval from all the necessary entities. Plans call for new hangars, some of which will replace an older building slated to be razed, and a new facility for aircraft maintenance. The new hangars will fit airplanes as large as the Gulfstream V and offer space for smaller aircraft. “We hope to get it done in two years,” Fellay said.