San Sebastián Airport (LESO)

Visited in March 2026. A few days prior to arrival I emailed Iberia handling (eascicops@iberia.es) to request the standard “Servicio de Acompañamiento en Plataforma.” They allocated a parking stand for three nights without issue. Of note, their reply email address was eascicops@southeu.com (South Europe Ground Services), different from what's in the AIP.

Total fees were €17 handling plus €83 for landing, ATS, parking, border control, and meteorological services.

All staff were very friendly and helpful.

The approach into LESO is very scenic, especially over Plage d’Hendaye and the harbour.

As mentioned in other PIREPs, GA aircraft must shut down and start up only in the designated area, and then tow your aircraft to/from your designated parking stand. So remember to bring your aircraft's tow bar! A friendly chap was there to help me on arrival. On departure I did myself, luckily my aircraft (DA40) isn't that heavy.

Very pleasant GA experience and great gateway for visiting San Sebastian.

As at many AENA airports, handling and a ramp slot are mandatory for all GA operations. The workflow is a bit different from others, though. You request the basic handling service („Servicio de acompañamiento en plataforma“) with South via email (eascicops@southeu.com). They will then forward this to CEOPS, and CEOPS will approve and assign a parking stand on the GA ramp.

After landing, make sure you follow the special procedure to shut down the engine in the assigned area and tow the aircraft to the stand afterwards.
We paid South on arrival for both accompaniment services (18€).

Before departure, go to the AENA office (to the left and upstairs in the terminal) to pay the landing and parking fees (56,46€ for a Mooney, landing and 2 days parking). Afterwards meet the South person downstairs to take you through security and to the plane. The whole process felt a bit less cumbersome than in other places. Staff on the ground as well as ATC was very friendly.

San Sebastián is deservedly famous as tourist destination but Hondarribia close to the airport is well worth a visit too. You can walk to many hotels there in less than 15 minutes.

PPR and handling mandatory.

First, be aware of the fact that you have to manually push/pull your aircraft into a parking position from the GA stop field. It's not far, but it's helpful if you are at least two.

I used South Europe Ground Services, which seems to be what used to be Iberia handling. eascicops@southeu.com . Following the guidelines from the Spanish Aeroclub, I asked for "Servicio de acompañamiento en plataforma". They confirmed quite quickly but did never acknowledge my message regarding the departure.

When we arrived, nobody actually bothered to turn up, so we just walked out of the airport. (didn't need customs). Maybe because of that, on departure, I was charged a grand total of EUR 8.87 for the handling (DA40). Needless to say, I didn't inquire any further on hearing the price and left.

Be sure to have your handlers phone number so that you can call them to pick you up in the terminal. Also, ensure you have more time than usual. First, they take you to the airport admin for the parking and landing fees (About EUR 100 for DA40 for landing and 4 nights parking). Then you have to fill in ID numbers at a security stop, Then you have to go pay the handler separately. The South Europe GS office is very close to the GA parking, then they'll drop you off there.

On departure, we had a very nice guy from South Europe helping us, his English was good, and he's a paraglider pilot that had just started to take a few lessons in a Tecnam P92 at a nearby airfield (some UL field but I couldn't find anything on any map ..), so he was definitely GA friendly.

There are rental cars, although for San Sebastian itself, parking seems to be a hassle. We took a bus, line E21, from just outside the terminal for EUR 5.80. The app Citymapper for public transport is very helpful for times (not just there but a great many places worldwide). Tickets can be bought (cash only I think it was) on the bus.

For the return from San Sebastian, we got a transfer set up via booking which was EUR 70 and took about 25 minutes from San Sebastian.

Generally a straightforward aerodrome. PPR required for parking; easy to arrange by email with a prompt response. On‑site handling is friendly and uncomplicated. However, if an airliner comes in, it may take a while before you’re attended to.