Villefranche - Anse

45°57'11"N 004°43'35"E

Runway: 15/02 - 555x70m - grass

Villefranche - Anse airfield was an airfield 360 kilometers south/east of Paris.
It was built by the Villefranche-sur-Saône Air Club and opened to public air traffic in July 1935.
It was listed as a "private aerodrome" with a 500x600m surface on the list of Aerodromes, Seaplane bases and Airship bases published by the Air Navigation Bulletin in 1937, then as a "private aerodrome" in 1939.

It is not known how the airfield survived through World War II

In 1947 a ministerial decree classified Villefranche-Anse as a private aerodromes approved for slow and light aircraft based at the aerodrome. A new ministerial decree (30 March 1953) classified it among inspected private aerodromes.

An aerial view of the site in 1954. The hangars are present in the south/east part of the airfield. (geoportail.gouv.fr)

Undated photo taken around ths 70's. (Atlas Aéronautique de France)

1978 VFR landing chart of the aerodrome (SIA, via Olivier).

In the seventies, allo activities were transferred to the new aerodrome of Villefranche-Tarare, located near the town of Frontonas. Villefranche-Anse was permanently closed to air traffic on March 1983.

In 1981 the land was covered by the flooding of the Saone river. (geoportail.gouv.fr)

A 1982 view of the hangars and the club house beside the runway (geoportail.gouv.fr).

By as early as 1986, only 3 years after the airfield was closed, nothing remained of the hangars and the club house. (geoportail.gouv.fr)

View taken in 2020 - a gravel pit has replaced the old aerodrome. (Google Earth)

(Research by Olivier)