Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport (Galician: Aeroporto de Santiago-Rosalía de Castro, Spanish: Aeropuerto de Santiago-Rosalía de Castro) , previously named Lavacolla Airport and also known as Santiago de Compostela Airport, is an international airport serving the autonomous community and historical region of Galicia in Spain. It is the 2nd busiest airport in northern Spain after Bilbao Airport. It has been named after the Galician romanticist writer and poet Rosalía de Castro, since 12 March 2020.
The airport is located in the parish of Lavacolla, 12 km from Santiago de Compostela and handled 3,236,619 passengers in 2022. It is the focus city of Vueling in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, and Ryanair's only focus city in Northern Spain. The Christian pilgrimage route of the Camino de Santiago runs near the airport.
The airport was set up by a group of aviation enthusiasts in October 1932 and two months directors were chosen to select where the airport was going to be built. In 1935 construction work started at the airport where two years later on 27 September 1937 the first scheduled flight from Santiago de Compostela took place. After the Spanish Civil war, political prisoners (who were held in the concentration camp of Lavacolla) were forced to work in the construction of the airport.
In 1969 a new terminal was built at the airport. It later underwent several expansions, including a remodeling in 1993.
Iberia launched a seasonal link to New York City, the first transatlantic route from Santiago de Compostela, in June 1980. The carrier operated the flight with Boeing 747 aircraft. Four months later, Viasa added non-stop service to Caracas using McDonnell Douglas DC-10s. In 1981, a cargo terminal was built, giving the airport capacity to handle cargo flights.
Viasa shut down in 1997, but Avensa resurrected the route to Caracas two years later.
On 13 October 2011, a new passenger terminal opened at the airport.
The airport currently has one operating terminal. The old terminal at Santiago de Compostela airport opened in 1969 and was often expanded. The old terminal closed on the night of 13 October 2011 when operations transferred to the new terminal.
The new terminal at Santiago de Compostela Airport officially opened on 13 October 2011 and passenger operations transferred there the following day. It is adjacent to the old terminal and has a size of 74,000 sq m. It has 22 check-in desks, 3 security checkpoints, 4 baggage carousels, and 13 gates of which 5 have airbridges. The baggage hall is split into two zones, one for Schengen flights and one for Non-Schengen. It can handle as many as 4 million passengers per year. The terminal is due to be expanded in the future. This includes adding another five airbridges to five of the current gates as well as three more baggage carousels and an expanded shopping area.
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport:
During the early 2000s, numbers increased significantly at the airport, from 1.24 million in 2002 to peak at 2.46 million in 2011. Because of the financial crisis in Spain, those numbers decreased to 2.1 million in 2014. Cargo has decreased significantly over the last ten years. The Spanish economic recovery in the mid-2010s and the rise of Santiago de Compostela as an international destination are again increasing passenger numbers, breaking the 3 million mark for the first time in 2022.
Rank | City | Passengers | % Change 2021 / 22 | Carriers |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Madrid | 502,555 | 69.8% | Iberia, Iberia Express, Ryanair |
2 | Barcelona | 392,985 | 48.4% | Ryanair, Vueling |
3 | Palma de Mallorca | 191,822 | 87.9% | Ryanair, Vueling |
4 | Sevilla | 181,847 | 88.6% | Ryanair, Vueling |
5 | Alicante | 169,979 | 131.8% | Ryanair, Vueling |
6 | Málaga | 169,507 | 62.3% | Ryanair, Vueling |
7 | Gran Canaria | 166,349 | 82.6% | Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling |
8 | Valencia | 150,865 | 89.6% | Ryanair, Vueling |
9 | Tenerife South | 119,910 | 52.5% | Ryanair |
10 | Lanzarote | 113,654 | 43.6% | Ryanair, Vueling |
Rank | City | Passengers | % Change 2021 / 22 | Carriers |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | London Stansted | 110,726 | 192.1% | Ryanair |
2 | Geneva | 94,455 | 77.9% | easyJet Switzerland |
3 | London Gatwick | 68,362 | 390.5% | easyJet UK, Vueling |
4 | Dublin | 58,783 | 727.4% | Aer Lingus, Ryanair |
5 | Milan Bergamo | 56,092 | 195.5% | Ryanair |
6 | Basel | 34,377 | 25.1% | easyJet Switzerland |
7 | Paris Beauvais | 30,827 | - | Ryanair |
8 | Bologna | 30,623 | 585.1% | Ryanair |
9 | Paris Charles de Gaulle | 30,356 | - | Vueling |
10 | Frankfurt | 29,335 | 23.2% | Lufthansa |
Rank | Country | Passengers | % Change 2021 / 22 | Scheduled Carriers |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Spain | 2,475,901 | 76.5% | Iberia, Iberia Express, Iberia Regional, Ryanair, Vueling |
2 | United Kingdom | 204,025 | 292.8% | easyJet UK, Ryanair, Vueling |
3 | Switzerland | 152,801 | 67.1% | easyJet Switzerland, Edelweiss, Vueling |
4 | France | 115,120 | 427.2% | Ryanair, Transavia, Vueling |
5 | Italy | 87,409 | 265.2% | Ryanair |
6 | Germany | 70,251 | 108.7% | Lufthansa, Ryanair |
7 | Ireland | 58,783 | 727.4% | Aer Lingus, Ryanair |
8 | Belgium | 40,283 | 674.1% | Ryanair, Vueling |
9 | Netherlands | 23,084 | 84.4% | Vueling |
10 | Egypt | 2,835 | - | - |
Rank | Carriers | Passengers | % Change 2021 / 22 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ryanair | 1,565,453 | 124.12% |
2 | Vueling | 1,020,584 | 84.0% |
3 | Iberia Express | 302,777 | 133.7% |
4 | easyJet Switzerland | 128,596 | 59.0% |
5 | Iberia Regional | 50,364 | 100.8% |
6 | Iberia | 41,146 | 58.9% |
7 | Aer Lingus | 34,572 | 386.8% |
8 | Lufthansa | 29,325 | 22.3% |
9 | Transavia France | 22,377 | 474.80% |
10 | easyJet UK | 13,605 | 8,677.4% |
Those are other destinations to find places related to Santiago de Compostela Airport: