Gran Canaria Airport

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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 Naysa Base Vueling Ryanair Norwegian
Elevation AMSL	24 m / 78 ft
Coordinates	{{#invoke:Coordinates|coordinsert|27°55′55″N 015°23′12″W|type:airport}}
Maps
Template:Location mapLocation within the Canary Islands
[[Runway|Template:Colors]]
Template:Infobox airport/datatable
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 10,627,182 Passenger change 14-15 Increase3,0% Aircraft Movements 100.417 Movements change 14-15 Decrease−1,8%
Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA Spanish AIP, AENA

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Gran Canaria Airport Template:Airport codes, (sometimes also known as Gando Airport), (Template:Lang-es) is a passenger and freight airport on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an important airport within the Spanish air-transport network (owned and managed by a public enterprise, AENA), as it holds the fifth position in terms both of passengers and cargo transported, and fourth in terms of operations. It is also ranks first of the Canary Islands in all three categories, although the island of Tenerife has higher passenger numbers overall due to the two airports located on the island.

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 center of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and 25 km (16 mi) from the popular tourist areas in the south. In 2014 it handled over 10.3 million passengers, ranking as the 5th Spanish airport by passenger transit and the 1st airport by visitors in the Canary Islands. Gran Canaria Airport remains as a relevant connecting airport for passengers travelling to West Africa (Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, Cape Verde, among others), and to the Atlantic Isles of Madeira and the Azores. It is the operative base for Binter Canarias, NAYSA, Canaryfly, Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Vueling Airlines. Other airlines operate a base for connecting charter flights to Cape Verde and Gambia (TUIfly and TUIfly Nordic), only in winter season.

History

File:GranCanariaAirport.jpg

Apron view

File:SP-GC-Flughafen-Abflugebene.JPG

Main terminal building

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 Málaga, 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 tarmaced in 1957.

In 1963, improvements to the airport were made. This included new parking spaces, enlargement of the terminal and the provision of a visual approach slope indicator system. In 1964, a transmission station was built. In 1966 a new control tower was completed, replacing the old control tower that was constructed in 1946. {{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}{{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}^{[citation needed]} 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. {{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}{{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}^{[citation needed]}

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. {{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}{{#invoke:Namespace detect|main}}^{[citation needed]} In addition to Gran Canaria these include Lanzarote and Tenerife South. Ryanair presently operates 30 routes from Gran Canaria. The airport was an official alternative (emergency) landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle, before the ending of Space Shuttle programme in July 2011.

As of 2011, there was a programme to expand the airport building a new terminal and a new runway. In 2015 a major renovation of Gran Canaria airport was completed. Among the improvements was 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 is now fully active, doubling the previous area. There is also a plan for the building of a new runway for the airport.

Terminal

The airport has one terminal which opened in March 1973. It was later extended in October 1991 to increase passenger traffic. Despite being a building of historical interest, in 2013 the original passenger terminal building, opened in 1946, was demolished to make way for a further extension which opened in 2014. Although dramatically expanded over the years the airport remains a single terminal airport.

There are four check-in areas. Check-in Area 1 (desks 101 to 118) is in the newest part of the airport (which opened on 16 July 2014) and serves almost exclusively flights operated by CanaryFly and Binter Canarias (mainly inter-island flights between the Canary Islands or to Morocco). At times of very high demand check-in Area 1 may provide overflow capacity for Areas 2, 3 and 4. Check-in Area 2 (desks 201 to 234) is located in the first part of the "new" airport which opened in 1973. This area was completely refurbished in 2014 and is normally used for flights handled by Ground Force (Globalia Handling). Check-in Area 3 (desks 301 to 352) is in the second part of the "new" airport which originally opened in 1991 and is used for flights handled by Iberia and Ground Force. Additionally, airline Norwegian Air Shuttle have dedicated check-in desks and self check in podiums located to the southern end of Area 3. Check-in Area 4 (desks 401 to 406) is located downstairs between the police station and the main car rental offices (Hertz, Europcar, CICAR, Top Car AutoReisen, Gold Car and Avis Rent a Car System), and is used exclusively by Ryanair.

There are two security filters where passengers pass from the general public areas into the departures area. At these security filters passengers and their hand luggage is scanned to ensure no prohibited items pass. The main security filter is located between Check-in Areas 2 and 3. There is a second filter located in Check-in Area 1 which is intended to serve exclusively passengers of CanaryFly and Binter Canarias.

The terminal departures area is split into four zones (A, B, C and D). Zone A is for flights to the other Canary Islands, Zones B and C are for European Union and Scandinavian flights and Zone D is for other international flights. The gates in Zone A are at ground floor level to the Northern end of the terminal. Other gates are on the first floor (the same level as the security filters into departures) those in Zone D featuring additional security to allow for the screening of international passengers.

There are two arrivals areas numbered "1" and "2" both located downstairs at ground level. Area 1 serves all arrivals of flights originating within Spain and is located to the Northern end of the airport. Some of the car rental companies have additional counters in this area as it is a considerable walk to the main car rental area. Area 2 serves all international arrivals and is located to the Southern end of the airport. As the majority of arrivals served by area 2 are for tourist flights, many bringing passengers traveling on package holidays organised by tour operators, there is a large coach park (Parking A) located immediately in front of this area. Overflow coach parking (which is required only in the Winter months) is provided at the departures level (Parking B) and is accessed from arrivals area 2 via a purpose built pedestrian tunnel with stairs and travelators.

Statistics

Traffic figures

	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	10,538,829	111,271	23,679
2012	9,892,067	100,393	20,601
2013	9,770,253	95,483	18,781
2014	10,315,732	102,211	19,821
2015	10,627,182	100,417	18,800
Source: Aena Statistics

Busiest routes

Busiest European Routes from Gran Canaria (2015)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Template:Flagicon Düsseldorf, Germany	328,010	Air Berlin, Condor, Eurowings, TUIfly
2	Template:Flagicon Amsterdam, Netherlands	304.010	Corendon Airlines, Transavia, Vueling
3	Template:Flagicon Oslo Gardermoen, Norway	300.409	Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, TUIfly Nordic
4	Template:Flagicon Stockholm Arlanda, Sweden	299.349	Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, TUIfly Nordic
5	Template:Flagicon London Gatwick, United Kingdom	284.768	easyJet, Monarch Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways
6	Template:Flagicon Frankfurt, Germany	215,099	Air Berlin, Condor, TUIfly
7	Template:Flagicon Manchester,United Kingdom	210.057	easyjet, Jet2.com, Monarch Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways
8	Template:Flagicon Munich, Germany	207.224	Air Berlin, Condor, Norwegian Air Shuttle, TUIfly
9	Template:Flagicon Copenhagen, Denmark	201.554	Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, TUIfly Nordic
10	Template:Flagicon Helsinki, Finland	193.494	Finnair, Jettime, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Primera, Thomas Cook Scandinavia, TUIfly Nordic

Busiest Domestic Routes from Gran Canaria (2015)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Template:Flagicon Madrid–Barajas, Community of Madrid	1,317.971	Air Europa, Iberia, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair
2	Template:Flagicon Tenerife, Canary Islands	604.075	Binter Canarias, CanaryFly
3	Template:Flagicon Lanzarote, Canary Islands	541.486	Binter Canarias, CanaryFly
4	Template:Flagicon Fuerteventura, Canary Islands	412.606	Binter Canarias, CanaryFly
5	Template:Flagicon Barcelona, Catalonia	332.287	Norwegian Air Shuttle, Ryanair, Vueling Airlines
6	Template:Flagicon Sevilla, Andalusia	175,346	Air Europa, Ryanair, Vueling Airlines
7	Template:Flagicon Málaga, Andalusia	111,371	Air Europa, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Vueling Airlines
8	Template:Flagicon La Palma, Canary Islands	97.203	Binter Canarias
9	Template:Flagicon Bilbao, Basque Country	95,431	Air Europa, Vueling Airlines
10	Template:Flagicon Santiago de Compostela, Galicia	86,449	Air Europa, Ryanair

Busiest African Routes from Gran Canaria (2015)

Rank	City	Passengers	Top Carriers
1	Template:Flagicon Sal, Cape Verde	45.553	Binter Canarias
2	Template:Flagicon El Aaiun, Morocco	24,566	Binter Canarias, CanaryFly
3	Template:Flagicon Nouakchott, Mauritania	23,312	Binter Canarias
4	Template:Flagicon Boa Vista, Cape Verde	24.022	TACV
5	Template:Flagicon Dakar, Senegal	21.587	Iberia, Binter Canarias
6	Template:Flagicon Casablanca, Morocco	15.499	Binter Canarias, Royal Air Maroc
7	Template:Flagicon Marrakech, Morocco	12,247	Binter Canarias, Royal Air Maroc
8	Template:Flagicon Nouadhibou, Mauritania	8.676	Mauritania Internacional Airways
9	Template:Flagicon Banjul, Gambia	8.674	Binter Canarias
10	Template:Flagicon Praia, Cape Verde	4.818	Binter Canarias

Ground transportation

The airport can be reached by several island roads from all points in the island. There are special bus service from most towns in Gran Canaria, but access by taxi is usual.

Gran Canaria's main motorway GC1 runs past the airport providing transport links to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the North and to the tourist resorts in the South.

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 the Ala 46 with F/A-18 Hornets, CASA 212 and the Eurocopter AS 532 of SAR . Ala 46 or 46 Wing, composed of 462 and 802 fighter squadron, defends the Spanish airspace around the Canary Islands. It is one of the biggest and most important air bases of the Spanish Air Force and unique by the big diversity of aeroplane that it operates.

Military activity was most intense during the mid 1970s, at the time of the crisis of decolonisation of Western Sahara and its occupation by Morocco. Military crises in Western Africa, like the 2013 Mali intervention by France, made Gando Air Base the main air platform for operations in Western Africa area by NATO. In 2006 Spain proposed Gando Air Base as headquarters for the newly created US Africa Command (AFRICOM), but the AFRICOM HQ was ultimately based in Stuttgart (Germany).

The Canary Islands Air Command (Mando Aéreo de Canarias – MACAN) is based in the city of Las Palmas. Canary Islands Air Command is the only territorial general Air Command Air Force in Spain; its mission is the maintenance, preparation and command of air units located in the Canary archipelago. Any Spanish military airplane that lands in the Canary Islands is immediately put at the disposal of the Canary Islands Air Command, who can retain it and use it as long as necessary for missions within the islands. This happens sometimes with heavy military transport, antisubmarine warfare and early warning airplanes; the islands do not have these on a permanent basis. Once the plane is released by the Canary Islands Air Command, it can leave the Canary Islands and reverts to the Air Force Commands of mainland Spain.

The deployment base of Gando Air Base is the Lanzarote Military Airfield (Aeródromo Militar de Lanzarote). Lanzarote Military Airfield has permanently its own Air Force troops platoons and the radar for the air defence (the EVA 22, which covers the Eastern Canary Islands and the maritime area up to the Sahara), but it has no permanently based military planes, using the ones from Gando.

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. Ten minutes' warning was given to the airport authorities, who started to evacuate the building; the inside of the terminal was damaged and eight people were injured, one seriously. A later telephone call claimed responsibility for the explosion and hinted that a second bomb had been planted somewhere in the terminal building; the airport was closed and searched, necessitating the diversion of several incoming flights, including a number of large aircraft on long international flights, to Los Rodeos airport (later named Tenerife North Airport) on the nearby island of Tenerife. The resulting runway congestion on the small regional airport was a factor in the subsequent disaster at Los Rodeos, when just after 5pm two Boeing 747s originally bound for Gran Canaria collided on the Los Rodeos runway, resulting in 583 deaths, the worst aviation accident in history.