Gran Canaria Airport

Gran Canaria Airport Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria
IATA: LPA ICAO: GCLP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	ENAIRE
Operator	ENAIRE
Serves	Gran Canaria
Location	Telde and Ingenio, Spain
Hub for	Binter Canarias Naysa Norwegian Air International Ryanair Vueling
Elevation AMSL	24 m / 78 ft
Coordinates	27°55′55″N 015°23′12″W / 27.93194°N 15.38667°W / 27.93194; -15.38667Coordinates: 27°55′55″N 015°23′12″W / 27.93194°N 15.38667°W / 27.93194; -15.38667
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 (2016)
Passengers 12,093,645 Passenger change 15-16 13,8% Aircraft Movements 111.996 Movements change 15-16 11.5% Cargo (tonnes) 18,588 Cargo change 15-16 1.1%
Sources: Passenger Traffic, AENA Spanish AIP, AENA

Passengers	12,093,645
Passenger change 15-16	13,8%
Aircraft Movements	111.996
Movements change 15-16	11.5%
Cargo (tonnes)	18,588
Cargo change 15-16	1.1%

Gran Canaria Airport (IATA: LPA, ICAO: GCLP), (sometimes also known as Gando Airport), (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria) 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 sixth position in terms of passengers, and fifth in terms of operations and cargo transported. 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. Other airlines operate a base for connecting charter flights to Cape Verde and Gambia (TUIfly and TUIfly Nordic), only in winter season.

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.