Paris - Le Bourget Airport (French: Aéroport de Paris - Le Bourget) (IATA: LBG, ICAO: LFPB) is an airport located in Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, and Dugny, 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) north-northeast[2] (NNE) of Paris, France. It is now used only for general aviation (business jets) as well as air shows.
The airport started commercial operations in 1919 and was for long Paris's only airport until the construction of Orly Airport in 1932. It is most famous as the landing site for Charles Lindbergh's historic solo transatlantic crossing in 1927, as well as the departure point two weeks earlier for the French biplane The White Bird (L'Oiseau Blanc), an aircraft which took off in its own attempt at a transatlantic flight but then mysteriously disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic (or possibly the American state of Maine). Le Bourget Airport was featured in the Dan Brown novel The Da Vinci Code.
On 25 June 1940, Adolf Hitler began his first and only tour of Paris with Albert Speer and an entourage, from Le Bourget Airport.[1]
On 17 June 1961, the Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected at Le Bourget Airport.
In 1977, Le Bourget was closed to international traffic and in 1980 to regional traffic, leaving only business jets to operate.
On 25 July 2000 Concorde flight 4590 was trying to divert to Le Bourget when it crashed.
Le Bourget Airport hosts the French Museum of Air and Space (Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace), and, on odd years, the Paris Air Show.
This airport contains a statue commemorating Frenchwoman Raymonde de Laroche who was the first woman to earn a pilot's licence. There is also a monument honoring Lindbergh, Nungesser, and Coli.
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