Lanzarote: the history of our newest airport live stream location

Lanzarote International Airport (ACE/GCRR) is the latest addition to our YouTube channel’s live streams, featuring a camera that broadcasts 24 hours a day, capturing all airport activity, including takeoffs and landings.

The idea of building an airport on one of Spain’s Canary Islands began to emerge in the early 1930s, with the aim of improving connectivity for passengers and cargo on the island of Lanzarote. Finally, in the following decade, the Ejército del Aire (the Spanish Air Force) approved the construction of an airport on the island, as part of a plan to defend the archipelago.

In 1941, the island got its first airport as the Air Force military base was opened. Civilian passenger and cargo traffic did not begin until 1946, when a temporary passenger terminal was established in an area that was previously used by the Air Force.

The first expansion of the Air Base—now Lanzarote Airport—commenced in the 1950s, with the reconstruction of the runway and a new aircraft apron, and plans were initiated for the construction of the new passenger terminal.

On March 3rd, 1970, following the completion of the second phase of major construction work, Lanzarote Airport was fully opened to domestic and international passenger traffic. This work included the construction of the passenger terminal, the refurbishment and extension of the airport’s sole runway, which at that time had heads 04 and 22, a taxiway running parallel to the entire runway, and new technological equipment.

Passenger demand to/from Lanzarote, particularly international traffic, continued to grow consistently, leading to a new expansion of the terminal at the end of the last century, as well as upgrades to the control tower’s equipment and technology.

Aena, the concessionaire for Lanzarote Airport and several other Spanish airports, officially unveiled the new terminal in 1999, with sufficient capacity to meet the demand of seven million passengers per year.

Annual passenger traffic at Lanzarote Airport remained around 5 million until 2014, when significant growth in the international sector started, reaching a total of 7 million passengers per year between 2017 and 2019. In 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number dropped significantly to 2.5 million and 3.4 million, returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

Lanzarote Airport achieved a milestone in its history as of 2023, surpassing 8 million passengers each year. According to Aena statistics, it handled 8.2 million passengers in 2023, 8.7 million in 2024, and 8.9 million in 2025. In the first two months of 2026, the airport served 1.4 million passengers.

As for flights, in accordance with our database, Lanzarote handles approximately 1,400 weekly flights, comprising 700 arrivals and 700 departures. It is connected to more than 83 airports in 21 different countries, the majority of which are in Europe. Its main routes are Gran Canaria, Tenerife North, and Madrid, with 140, 64, and 34 flights per week, respectively.

Lanzarote continues to have a single 2,400-meter paved runway. When the airport first opened, its runway heads were 04 and 22; today they are 03 and 21. Of the 1,400 flights last week, 86% used Runway 03.

In terms of daily figures, the airport operates around 115 flights a day, with some days reaching around 100 and others nearing 130. From this total, about 45 are domestic flights operated by Air Europa, Binter Canarias, Canaryfly, Iberia, Ryanair, Volotea or Vueling.

The shortest route operated in Lanzarote is to Gran Canaria, which is about 200 kilometers and takes approximately 30 minutes to fly. These services are performed exclusively by ATR 72-200 and ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft operated by Binter Canarias or Canaryfly, the leading airlines in the Canary Islands.

Moving on to its longest route, Stockholm Arlanda–Lanzarote is conducted by TUI fly Nordic using Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. The flight time is five and a half hours, making it the only service from/to ACE to exceed 4,000 kilometers.

Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are the countries connected to Lanzarote, with Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany being the main markets in terms of the number of routes.

Clarification. Lanzarote, like the other Spanish Canary Islands, has several seasonal routes that operate during the summer and/or winter.

Current routes to/from Lanzarote, according to our database (April 2026).

The Canary Islands have nine airports, many of which offer extensive connections to Europe. For more information about each one, you can click on the following links:

Cover photo: © Bartosz Szarszewski – JetPhotos (Lanzarote, Spain)