Lanzarote Airport (ACE)

Lanzarote Airport is found on the island of Lanzarote, which is the Canary Island located furthest to the north-east of all seven Canaries. It is also one of the larger islands, and attracts millions of tourists every year. The airport is also known as the Guasimeta Airport, due to its location in this area, and has the official code of ACE. Its ICAO code is listed as GCRR. A wide variety of airline companies are present here, offering a number of destinations, and the terminal buildings are well organised with all facilities required by their arriving and departing passengers.

The airport is located in San Bartolome, on the south-eastern coastline of the island, and is very nearby Playa Honda, Güime, Playa del Cable and Casas de Guasimeta. The airport also lies only five kilometres from the capital city of Lanzarote, known as Arrecife, which is just to the north. Access for motorists is provided by the major LZ-2 highway, which leads directly to the airport, and to Arrecife. This road also heads further southwest, towards the popular holiday resort areas of Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca. Puerto del Carmen is about a fifteen-minute drive away, while Playa Blanca is about a forty-five minute drive away. To the north is the Costa Teguise, another popular tourist area. Lanzarote is therefore well positioned on the island, and an excellent arrival point for visitors. The airport can be found on a satellite navigation system with the following coordinates:  28°56′44″N 013°36′19″W.

In 2010, Lanzarote served a total of just over 4.9 million passengers, which was a slight increase from the previous year, of 4.7 million passengers. In recent years, the airport has experienced a drop in passenger traffic and aircraft movements, as in 2000, over five million passengers passed through, and traffic figures only increased until 2007, peaking at just over 5.6 million passengers. The busiest year in terms of aircraft movements was however in 2008, with 53,375 landings and take-offs. In 2010, aircraft movements were recorded at 46,668. The airport on Lanzarote Island handles a few tonnes of cargo each year as well, but cargo figures have dropped from over 7,000 tonnes in 2004 to below 4,000 tonnes in 2010.

Ryanair is one of the airline companies serving the airport with a number of destinations, as well as Thomson Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines. Ryanair is well known as the ‘world’s favourite airline’, and has made a huge impact in the revenue of many smaller airports in Europe, ever since the phenomenon of low-cost flights started to increase in popularity from the year 2000. Recently, Ryanair announced that three of the Canary Island airports, including Lanzarote, will be new bases for their company, and a further two aircraft will be dedicated. Ryanair will now offer 112 routes from the Canaries, of which 35 will be new, and is expected to carry 4.5 million passengers per year to and from the islands. This will effectively restore the loss in traffic experienced by many of the islands over the past few years. New routes will be to Eindhoven, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Knock and Leeds/Bradford. Other destinations offered by Ryanair include Birmingham, Liverpool, London Stansted, Milan-Orio al Serio, Edinburgh, Dublin and East Midlands.

Airline companies offering flights to the other Canary Islands are Air Europa, Binter Canarias, Naysa and Islas Airways, while Vueling and Spanair handle many flights to Madrid, on the Spanish mainland. Additional airline carriers serving the airport include Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Condor, Jet2, Monarch, Niki, Travel Service and Orbest Orizonia Airlines.

The first flight landed at the airport of Lanzarote on 24 July 1941, and the airport was used mainly as a military airfield for the following few years. In 1946 it was provisionally opened for civil traffic, and improvements to the runway were made in later years. The installation of new lighting equipment enabled the premises to be open for night traffic on request. In 1970, Lanzarote Airport received a new passenger terminal building for both international and domestic traffic, with the important feature of a mural created by César Manrique, entitled ‘Lanzarote’. Today, the airport has two terminal buildings, a newer construction with a capacity for over six million passengers per annum, used for the majority of domestic and international flights, and the passenger terminal built in 1970, which is now used for all inter-island flight activities. This building is now called Terminal 2, and was designed over the old terminal, but has kept the signature mural by Manrique.

Terminal 2 at Lanzarote Airport features a large departures hall with ticket sales offices, six check-in desks and an automatic Binter machine, as well as three boarding gates. All departure facilities are located on the same floor, to ensure the smooth transition from terminal to aircraft. The arrivals area is equally well organized with the exit areas of the terminal nearby the baggage reclaim hall. There is also a large commercial area, with a number of shops and cafés, and the Aena public information service, know as ‘green jackets’ for the assistance of passengers. Terminal 1 consists of 42 standard check-in desks and one check-in desk for special baggage, and twelve boarding gates. The departures area is located on the first floor, while the arrivals hall is on the ground floor. Facilities on site, in general, include ATMs by various banks, a VIP lounge, travel agencies, fax and photocopying services at the lottery shop and first aid services.

The airport is fully equipped for disabled passengers, and offers adequate parking facilities as well. More information is available at (+34) 91 321 10 00, or 902 404 704.

ACE is the 3 letter AATA code for Lanzarote Airport. To help you in your arrival or departure from the airport you can enter the following GPS details – 28.94556, -13.60528 into your Smartphone or in-car GPS system to help you get directions.

Find below a choice of Airlines, destination and flight times.

Binter Canarias, NAYSA and Ryanair are the busiest airlines companies that fly from the airport and cover the majority of the destinations The busiest which is Binter Canarias covers a total of 135 flights per week and goes to 2 destinations. Binter Canarias travels to 24% of the total destinations. Binter Canarias airline offers flights to Gran Canaria and Tenerife Norte among others.

You can see below a selection of nonstop flights with approximate times

When arriving in Lanzarote you may want to rent a car and you can find a selection of the major car hire companies in the Arrivals hall or nearby. Please be sure to bring a valid driving license if you intend to hire a vehicle. To be sure of beating the queues it is wise to book your Lanzarote Car hire online, please visit the link for more information.