Gran Canaria Airport

Gran Canaria Airport Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria Base Aérea de Gando
IATA: LPA – ICAO: GCLP
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea
Operator		Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea1
Serves		Gran Canaria
Location		Telde and Ingenio, Spain
Hub for		Binter Canarias Islas Airways Naysa Ryanair
Elevation AMSL		24 m / 78 ft
Coordinates		27°55′55″N 015°23′12″W
Map
LPA Location within the Canary Islands
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
03L/21R	3,100	10,171	Asphalt concrete
03R/21L	3,100	10,171	Asphalt concrete
Statistics (2011 - provisional)
Passengers			10,538,811
Passenger change 10–11			11.1%
Aircraft Movements			111,269
Movements change 10–11			7.9%
Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA Spanish AIP, AENA

Gran Canaria Airport (IATA: LPA, ICAO: GCLP), (informally known as Las Palmas Airport, and formally known as Gando Airport), (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria), It is an important airport for Spanish tourism as it is the fifth busiest airport of Spain, and the first in Canaries. It is an airport located on Gran Canaria Island. In 2011 it handled over 10.5 million passengers, a 11.1% increase compared with 2010.

The airport is located in the eastern part of Gran Canaria on the Bay of Gando (Bahía de Gando), 19 km (12 mi) south of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and 25 km (16 mi) from the popular tourist areas in the south. The lengthy runways made the airport an alternative landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle.

History

In 1919, Frenchman Pierre George Latécoère was granted clearance from the French & Spanish governments to establish an airline route between Toulouse & Casablanca. This also included stopovers in Malaga, Alicante and Barcelona.

The airport opened on 7 April 1930, after King Alfonso XIII signed a royal order announcing that the military air force installations on the Bay of Gando would become a civilian airfield. In its existence, the airport has become the largest gateway into the Canary Islands, as well as the largest in terms of passenger and cargo operations.

In 1946, the old passenger terminal opened, which took two years to build. In 1948 a runway was built, which was completed and fully tarmacked in 1957.

In 1963, improvements to the airport were made. This included new parking spaces, enlargement of the terminal, a visual approach slope indicator system was built and a new control tower was built, replacing the old control tower that was constructed in 1946. The control tower was completed in 1966. In 1964, a transmission station was built.

In 1970, work began on the current passenger terminal that is being used to operate flights today. The new terminal opened in March 1973. During this time, a second runway was being built, and this was completed in 1980.

On 18 February 1988, Binter Canarias announced that the airline's main base was to be established at Gran Canaria. The base opened on 26 March 1989.

In October 1991, the terminal was enlarged with improved facilities so it could handle more passengers.

In December 2010, low cost carrier Ryanair announced the opening of 3 new bases on the Canary Islands. In addition to Gran Canaria these include Lanzarote and Tenerife South. From 16 February 2011, Ryanair will operate 30 routes from Gran Canaria, 12 of which are new.

Terminal

The airport

Check-In

Departures

The airport has one terminal which opened in March 1973. It was later extended in October 1991 to slightly increase passenger traffic.

The terminal is split into three zones. Zone A is for European Union Flights, Zone B is for International flights outside the European Union and Zone C is for flights to the other Canary Islands.

Airlines and destinations

A Thomas Cook Airlines Airbus A330-200 landing

Airlines	Destinations	Zone
Aer Lingus	Dublin Seasonal: Belfast-International, Cork	A
Air Berlin	Basel/Mulhouse, Berlin-Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig/Halle, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Zürich Seasonal: Dortmund, Munich, Stuttgart	A
Air Europa	Bilbao, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, Seville Charter: Aalesund, Cork, Kalmar, Kristiansand, Stockholm-Skavsta, Sundsvall,Tallinn, Växjö	A
Air Europa	Lanzarote, Tenerife-South	C
Air Finland	Seasonal: Helsinki	A
Air Italy	Charter Milan-Malpensa	A
Arkefly	Charter Amsterdam	A
Aurela	Charter Vilnius	A
Austrian Airlines	Linz, Salzburg, Vienna	A
Binter Canarias & Naysa	Funchal	A
Binter Canarias & Naysa	El Aaiún, Layounne, Marrakech Seasonal: Nouadhibou, Nouakchott	B
Binter Canarias & Naysa	El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Gomera, La Palma, Tenerife-North, Tenerife-South	C
Blue Panorama Airlines	Charter Milan-Malpensa	A
Canary Fly	Agadir, Laayoune, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Villa Cineros	B
Cimber Sterling	Billund, Copenhagen	A
Condor	Berlin-Schönefeld, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Friedrichshafen, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Stuttgart	A
EasyJet	London-Gatwick	A
EasyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse	A
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal Charter: Zürich	A
Edelweiss Air	Charter Tenerife-South	C
EuroAtlantic Airways *	Lisbon	A
Europe Airpost	Charter Rouen Seasonal Charter: Dublin, Paris-Orly	A
Finnair	Helsinki, Oulu	A
Germania	Charter Bremen, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden	A
German Sky Airlines	Charter Düsseldorf	A
Germanwings	Seasonal: Cologne/Bonn, Hanover	A
Hamburg Airways	Charter Hamburg	A
Iberia	Dakar, Madrid, Nouakchott [begins 25 March]	A
Iberia operated by Air Nostrum	Seasonal: Alicante, Badajoz, Granada, Leon, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Valencia, Valladolid	A
Islas Airways	El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, Tenerife-North	A
Jet2	Leeds/Bradford [begins 28 May 2012], Manchester [begins 05 May], Newcastle upon Tyne [begins 28 April]	A
Jetairfly	Brussels, Brussels South-Charleroi, Liege, Ostend	A
Luxair	Luxembourg	A
Mauritania Airlines International	Nouadhibou, Nouakchott	B
Monarch	Birmingham, Manchester Seasonal Charter: Cork [begins 5 May]	A
Neos	Milan-Malpensa, Verona	A
Niki	Salzburg, Vienna Seasonal: Graz	A
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Aalborg, Bergen, Bodø, Copenhagen, Goteborg-Landvetter, Helsinki, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Trondheim	A
Novair	Charter Goteborg-Landvetter, Stockholm-Arlanda	A
Orbest Orizonia Airlines	Bilbao Charter:Basel/Mulhouse, Borlange, Dublin [begins 5 May], Hamburg, Jonkoping, Kristiansand, Munich, Orebro, Stuttgart, Turku, Valladolid, Zaragoza	A
Primera Air Scandinavia	Charter Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda Seasonal Charter: Billund, Goteborg-Landvetter, Helsinki	A
Ryanair	Barcelona, Birmingham, Bratislava, Bremen, Bristol, Brussels-Charleroi, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Glasgow-Prestwick, Hahn, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Knock, Liverpool, London-Luton, London-Stansted, Madrid, Magdeburg-Cochstedt, Milan-Bergamo, Pisa, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Shannon, Valencia, Weeze, Zaragoza Seasonal: Bournemouth, Cork, Porto	A
SATA Air Açores	Funchal, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, Porto Santo	A
Scandinavian Airlines	Oslo-Gardermoen Charter:Alesund/Vigra, Bergen, Billund, Copenhagen, Goteborg-Landvetter, Haugesund, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Trondheim,	A
SmartWings operated by Travel Service	Prague	A
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich	A
TACV Cabo Verde Airlines	Lisbon, Praia	A
Thomas Cook Airlines	Belfast-International, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow-International, Leeds/Bradford, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne	A
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium	Brussels, Liege, Ostend	A
Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia	Billund, Copenhagen, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Helsinki, Karlstad, Oslo-Gardermoen, Malmö, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stockholm-Skavsta	A
Thomson Airways	Birmingham, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Doncaster/Sheffield, Dublin, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow-International, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, London-Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne Seasonal: Belfast-International, Bristol, Exeter	A
Transavia	Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Maastricht, Rotterdam	A
Travel Service Airlines *	Dublin, Oslo-Gardermoen, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Poznan, Stockholm-Arlanda, Warsaw	A
Travel Service Hungary	Charter Budapest	A
TUIfly	Basel/Mulhouse, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Zweibrücken Seasonal: Berlin-Tegel	A
TUIfly Nordic	Oslo-Gardermoen, Goteborg-Landvetter, Helsinki, Stockholm-Arlanda Charter: Kuopio, Malmo, Oulu, Umea, Vaasa	A
VIM Airlines *	Moscow-Domodedovo	B
Vueling	Barcelona, Malaga, Seville	A
White Airways	Charter Lisbon	A
Yes Airways	Charter Warsaw	A

Statistics

Gran Canaria Airport Passenger Totals 2000-2011 (millions)

Updated: 28 January 2012. 2011 data provisional.

	Passengers	Aircraft movements	Cargo (tonnes)
2000	9,376,640	98,063	43,706
2001	9,332,132	93,291	40,860
2002	9,009,756	93,803	39,638
2003	9,181,229	99,712	40,050
2004	9,467,494	104,659	40,934
2005	9,827,157	110,748	40,389
2006	10,286,726	114,949	38,360
2007	10,354,903	114,355	37,491
2008	10,212,123	116,252	33,695
2009	9,155,665	101,557	25,994
2010	9,486,035	103,087	24,528
2011 (provisional)	10,538,811	111,269	23,678
Source: Aena Statistics

Busiest European Routes from Gran Canaria (January 2011-December 2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Oslo, Norway	305.740	Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, TUIFLY Nordic.
2	Amsterdam, Netherlands	286.658	Arkefly, Transavia.
3	Dusseldorf, Germany	243.438	Air Berlin, Condor, Germanwings, TUIFLY.
4	Stockholm, Sweden	240.565	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Novair, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, TUIFLY Nordic.
5	Helsinki, Finland	216.794	Air Finland, Finnair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, TUIFLY Nordic.
6	London, United Kingdom	203.276	EasyJet, Monarch, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomsom Airways.
7	Frankfurt, Germany	181.238	Air Berlin, Condor, TUIFLY.
8	Manchester,United Kingdom	173.490	Monarch, Jet2, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomsom Airways.
9	Copenhaguen, Denmark	166.915	Cimber Sterling, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Thomas Cook Sacndinavia, TUIFLY Nordic,
10	Hamburg, Germany	155.062	Air Berlin, Condor, TUIFLY.

Busiest Domestic Routes from Gran Canaria (2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Madrid-Barajas, Community of Madrid	1.459.672	Air Europa, Iberia, Ryanair, Spanair.
2	Tenerife, Canary Islands	698.650	Binter Canarias, Islas Airways.
3	Fuerteventura, Canary Islands	603.999	Binter Canarias, Islas Airways.
4	Lanzarote, Canary Islands	602.409	Binter Canarias, Islas Airways.
5	Barcelona, Catalonia	416.051	Air Europa, Ryanair, Spanair, Vueling Airlines.
6	Sevilla, Andalusia	188.138	Air Europa, Ryanair, Vueling Airlines
7	La Palma, Canary Islands	117.128	Binter Canarias, Islas Airways.
8	Malaga, Andalusia	101.901	Vueling Airlines
9	Bilbao, Basque Country	87.682	Orbest, Spanair.
10	Santiago de Compostela, Galicia	84.327	Air Europa, Ryanair, Spanair.

Busiest Africans Routes from Gran Canaria (2011)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	El Aaiun, Sahara	33.332	Binter Canarias, CanaryFly, Islas Airways.
2	Boa Vista, Cape Verde	24.670	TACV, TUIFLY
3	Dakar, Senegal	23.140	Iberia.
5	Sal, Cape Verde	22.523	TACV, TUIFLY
6	Nouadhibou, Mauritania	18.135	CanaryFly, Mauritania Internacional Airways.
7	Praia, Cape Verde	10.712	TACV
8	Marrakech, Morocco	9.934	Binter Canarias
9	Agadir, Morocco	9.648	CanaryFly
10	Dakhla, Sahara	3.175	CanaryFly

Gran Canaria Airport 2013

Currently Gran Canaria airport is under construction.Among the improvements are increasing the number of baggage belts, 16 to 24, check-in counters from 96 to 132, and gates, up to 40. The new terminal area will be fully active in 2013 doubling the current area.

Ground transportation

The airport is accessible by several island roadways leading from all points in the island, as well as special bus service available from most towns within Gran Canaria. Taxi service is considered the most efficient way since the island has its own taxi services, and low fares.

Furthermore, Gran Canaria's main motorway GC1 runs directly past the airport providing fast transport links to Las Palmas in the North and to the popular tourist resorts in the South. The motorway has been upgraded and widened many times, particularly towards the South since the 1980s to cope with the increased levels of traffic caused by tourism.

Military use

There is an airbase of the Spanish Air Force to the east of the runways. Beyond several hangars opposite to the passenger terminal, the Gando Air Base (Base Aérea de Gando) contains ten shelters situated on the southern end of the eastern runway. They harbor F/A-18 Hornets, Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Mirage F1, Eurocopter AS 532, Fokker F27 of the Ala 46 . Ala 46 or 46 Wing, composed of 462 and 802 fighter squadron, defends the Spanish airspace around the Canary Islands.

There is also the Canary Islands Air Command (Mando Aéreo de Canarias – MACAN). Canary Islands Air Command is the only organization territorialized Air Command Air Force General of Spain and its mission is the maintenance and preparation of air units located in the Canary archipelago, and the preparation of command.

MPAIAC bombing and Tenerife disaster

See also Tenerife airport disaster

At 1:15 PM on 27 March 1977, a bomb planted by the Movement for the Independence and Autonomy of the Canaries Archipelago (MPAIAC) exploded in a florist's shop on the terminal concourse. Airport authorities had been warned of the blast 10 minutes before, so although the bomb damaged the inside of the terminal, the building was being evacuated at the time and there were no fatalities. However, eight people were injured, one seriously. Later, another telephone call was received claiming responsibility for the explosion and hinting that a second bomb was planted somewhere in the terminal building. The civil aviation authorities closed the airport pending a thorough search for the second bomb. The closure necessitated the diversion of several incoming flights, including a number of large aircraft on long international flights, to Los Rodeos airport on the nearby island of Tenerife (Los Rodeos is now known as Tenerife North Airport). The resulting runway congestion on the small regional airport was a factor in the subsequent disaster at Los Rodeos, when just after 5pm local time two Boeing 747s originally bound for Gran Canaria collided on the Los Rodeos runway, resulting in 583 deaths, the worst aviation accident in history.

External links

Media related to Gran Canaria Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Canaria Airport Official Website (English)
• Canaria Airport Official Website (Spanish)