Emergency airstrip for Pego ‘within three years’

PEGO is set to have its own emergency landing strip as back-up for the existing runways in Castell de Castells and Dénia, and planned heliports in Jávea and the Vall de Gallinera.

As well as medical and firefighter helicopters, the Pego airfield will be suitable for small planes, giving leisure pilots an extra place to touch down.

Also, planes will be on hand close to the scene in the event of wildfires in the northern Marina Alta and La Safor (Valencia province).

The plot destined for the runway is a disused orange grove near the Marjal of around 12.3 acres (49,860 square metres) and 1.5 kilometres (nearly a mile) long, the minimum needed for light aircraft and helicopters to guarantee a safe landing.

A helicopter transport brigade may be set up there in the future like the one in the Cocoll area of Castell de Castells – not to replace it, but as an alternative when visibility or weather conditions leave it inaccessible, given that the landlocked mountain location is prone to fog and harsh winters.

Director-general of the region’s emergency response agency, José María Ángel, explained the plans during a recent visit to the site.

Pego council is negotiating the land purchase at present, and expects the runway to be open within three years.

Curiously, Monte Pego dwellers have often commented that the town already has an airstrip: the seeminglyendless string of street lights along the CV-700 at the entrance makes it look like a runway at night from residents’ vantage point 170 metres up the mountain.