SafekipediaLa Palma Airport
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
La Palma Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto de La Palma) (IATA: SPC, ICAO: GCLA) is an airport located in Breña Baja and Villa de Mazo, 8 km (5.0 mi) south of the city of Santa Cruz de La Palma on La Palma in the Canary Islands. It is operated by Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA), who operate the majority of civil airports in Spain.
The airport is served mainly by Binter Canarias and CanaryFly with island-hopping flights from Tenerife and Gran Canaria, but there are flights to the main Europe cities and charter flights from mainland Europe such as Germany, United Kingdom, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. In 2018, the airport had 1,420,277 passengers in the 22,033 operations handled. Cargo traffic totalled 565 tonnes.
History
In 1921, a company got permission to start an air service near Tazacorte. In the 1950s, people planned to build a new airfield. Because the island of La Palma is very mountainous, they chose a spot called Buenavista de Arriba, west of the capital, Santa Cruz. This airfield opened in 1955 for tourist flights.
Later, a new airport was built near Mazo, south of Santa Cruz, and opened in 1970. Over time, the runway was made longer. Sometimes, strong winds can make flying difficult, and in 2008, many flights had to be cancelled because of this. In 2021, the airport had to close for a short time because of volcanic ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
New terminal
A new terminal building opened in July 2011, allowing the airport to handle up to 3 million passengers each year. The new terminal includes 25 check-in desks, 4 baggage carousels, and 9 boarding gates. It is located farther back than the old terminal, which helps make more space for airplanes. The airport also features a new control tower. However, there are still no plans to build a taxiway next to the runway, so airplanes must still back up on the runway, which limits the number of takeoffs and landings to 10 per hour.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines offer regular and charter flights at La Palma Airport:
These flights connect La Palma with nearby islands such as Tenerife and Gran Canaria, as well as major cities in Europe. There are also special flights from places like Germany, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands.
Statistics
Busiest routes
| Rank | Destination | Passengers | Change 2022 / 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Düsseldorf | 26,165 |  29% |
| 2 | Frankfurt | 18,724 |  20% |
| 3 | Munich | 16,663 | 38% |
| 4 |  Amsterdam | 16,652 | 37% |
| 5 | Hamburg | 16,259 | 21% |
| 6 |  London-Gatwick | 16,045 | 36% |
| 7 |  Billund | 10,280 | 109% |
| 8 | Copenhagen | 9,058 | 160% |
| 9 | Stuttgart | 8,715 | 43% |
| 10 | Manchester | 7,109 | 41% |
| Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo | |||
| Rank | Destination | Passengers | Change 2022 / 23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tenerife-North | 688,879 | 9% |
| 2 | Gran Canaria | 228,790 | 8% |
| 3 |  Madrid | 179,014 | 4% |
| 4 | Tenerife-South | 53,392 | 110% |
| 5 |  Barcelona | 17,974 | 58% |
| 6 | Lanzarote | 17,030 | 32% |
| 7 |  Bilbao | 8,640 | 55% |
| 8 | Fuerteventura | 5,872 | 5% |
| 9 |  Santiago de Compostela | 1,254 | 92% |
| 10 |  Málaga | 1,115 |  New Route |
| Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo | |||
Images
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on La Palma Airport, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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