The prestigious history of Paris-Villaroche
From airfield to flight test base
Located 40 km south-east of Paris, in the heart of the Brie plains, Melun-Villaroche airfield is a former flight test base.
The airfield was successively occupied by the French, German and American armies.
After the war, Snecma set up operations alongside the runways, while Dassault Aviation tested its Ouragan, Mystère, Mirage and Balzac aircraft.
Other aircraft manufacturers assembled their new aircraft here, including Breguet Aviation, René Hirsch, René Leduc, Morane-Saulnier, Potez Aviation, SNCAN and SNCASO.
At the end of 1946, the airfield benefited from the construction of buildings and hangars to the north of the runways, followed by the control tower. In December 1947, Snecma (now Safran Aircraft Engines) began flight testing at the Vélizy-Villacoublay airfield. The Safran group’s engine division also wrote pages in the history of aeronautics here, assembling military engines such as the M53 (Mirage 2000) and the M88 (Rafale), as well as the CFM and Leap range of civil jet engines, the most produced engines in the world, powering Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s, among others.
On 28 February 1948, Colonel Constantin Rozanoff opened the airfield to jet aircraft by taking off on his first test flight, a Dassault Ouragan powered by Rolls-Royce Nene engines.
Sadly, he died on 3 April 1954 during the presentation of a Mystère IV following a flight control failure.
In the 1980s, the runways, which were 60 metres wide and 2,800 metres long (now 1,972 m) for the east-west runway and 2,400 metres long (now 1,300 m) for the north-south runway, allowed aircraft with a landing weight of 60 tonnes to land.
For a long time, this airfield was under the authority of the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), part of the Ministry of Defence, but in January 1982 it came under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport.
The flight tests had moved to Brétigny, then to Istres and Cazaux, to free themselves from the constraints of air traffic in the Paris region.
Today
Melun-Villaroche remains a major aeronautical centre
Since 2014, the centre has been focusing on the development of civil aviation. Transferred in 2007 by the State to the SYMPAV (Syndicat mixte du pôle d’activités de Villaroche), the airfield is used by a centre of the École nationale de l’aviation civile (ENAC), the ‘Constantin Rozanoff’ flying club, the aerial work company Aéro-Sotravia, and the Aéropale aircraft maintenance and paint workshops.
The airfield is currently developing its business aviation offer. The plan is to welcome an average of fifty business jets a month within the next one to two years. Elyxan, an airport handling company, has been operating there since April 2013, and a heated 2,400 m2 hangar can accommodate around ten jets.
Where past, present and future meet
The airfield is also home to a number of associations involved in the conservation, maintenance and flying of vintage aircraft: AMPAA, Un Dakota sur la Normandie, Cercle de Chasse de Nangis and French Flying Warbirds.
The Safran Group operates one of its main sites here. Its engine division assembles military propulsion systems and the CFM and Leap range of civil jet engines, the world’s most widely produced engines powering the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, among others.
Air Legend: an exceptional airshow at Melun-Villaroche
Since 2018, Melun-Villaroche airfield has been the venue for the Air Legend airshow, an event that has become a must for aviation enthusiasts. Thanks to its exceptional aerial stage, every year it brings together legendary aircraft, rare warbirds and spectacular demonstrations that attract thousands of spectators from all over Europe.
The event perpetuates the aeronautical tradition of Melun-Villaroche and continues to amaze an ever-growing public.
