Fuerteventura

In the 1930s the company Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas (LAPE) refurbished a piece of land between the sea and the Tetir road to use as an auxiliary field for its flights. In 1940, work was begun on a military aerodrome in the municipality of Tefía. The airport was opened officially to national and international civil flights in January 1959.

 

The geographical location of the airport, far from Puerto de Cabras, the most important point of the island, and the increase in commercial flights, it became necessary to move the facility only five kilometres away from Puerto Rosario. Traffic to the Tefía airport ceased definitively in 1952 and the facility in the new location was opened.

 

With the rapid growth in demand and the problems produced by its location - continual gusting winds - the Fuerteventura Airport was moved along the coast to a place called El Matorral. The Airport of El Matorral, situated just five kilometres from the island capital of Puerto del Rosario, was opened officially in 1969. In 1992, the airport received more than 1,600,000 passengers, which made it necessary to carry out extensive refurbishment of the terminal and aircraft parking areas.

 

 

In 1994, construction started on a new terminal building, an aircraft apron, a taxiway parallel to the runway, a power plant and a new access road. With the new facilities it was possible to attend around five million passengers a year.

 

Most of the flights from the airport of Fuerteventura are to European Union countries. Germany and the United Kingdom represent 68 per cent of the international traffic. Domestic traffic centres around three destinations: Madrid (Barajas Airport), Gran Canaria, Tenerife (North Airport) and Barcelona (ElPrat Airport). 

 

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