As airports go, Santa Cruz de La Palma airport - airport code SPC - is quite user friendly in that you can't get too lost. Ah yes, I have 'done' Madrid airport a couple of times and think I have earned the sticker it deserves. And been lost of course. But at least La Palma airport only has one terminal and that obviously helps. However, as it is laid out over several levels, it can initially be difficult to understand the layout ... hence this blog post.
But first of all, where is La Palma airport? Some years back, the airport was located inland above the capital of Santa Cruz. Now however, it's located at sea level, just 9km south of Santa Cruz, the historic capital of La Palma. Incidentally, in between the two, lies the small resort of Los Cancajos with a selection of hotels, apartments and three excellent beaches.
The small and charismatic airport served La Palma very well, but a couple of years ago it was replaced by a larger airport with underground parking as opposed to outdoor parking. This is certainly an improvement although it does lead to confusion over which level your car is parked on or where you should go to collect your hire car. But once you get an understanding of what's where, it's quite straightforward.
The main entrance is the ground floor (Floor 0 in the lift) and this is where you will find the following:
Check-in desks
Arrivals and baggage re-claim (4 carousels)
Shopping (pharmacy and Jerónimo (funky clothes and gifts:)
Airport information desk (sometimes with free bananas)
Flight information offices for Iberia, Condor, Air Berlin and Binter where you can make enquiries, buy tickets and make a late check-in if your gate is closed (not a popular move by the way).
Car hire offices - we highly recommend booking your car hire in advance because otherwise you will have to queue up just to ask the price as prices are not displayed. (Or you can just book a rental car with us and you will be met with your car in the airport car park on the S2 level.)
The 1st floor (floor 1 in the lift) is departures.
Once through control (no photos please ... oops, sorry about that) there is also a snack bar and vending machines. From here there are flights to fourteen destinations - London Gatwick, Manchester (winter only), Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Bonn, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Tenerife North and Gran Canaria.
The three subterranean levels are reached either by escalator or a glass-sided lift. Actually the lifts, two of them at the side of the escalators, is a bit difficult to spot, simply because they are glass sided. These are the basement levels:
Level S 0 is the entrance to the car park where you collect your ticket
Level S1 is staff parking and for certain hire cars
Level S2 is public parking, and the main bulk of hire cars
Level S3 is to the small sea pools set in the rocks by the waters edge.
Taxis are available immediately outside of the airport building or you can pre-book a taxi here - www.taxilapalma.com. The website also has a very useful list of prices and guided tours of La Palma.
There is also a regular bus service, the number 500 bus, between the airport and Santa Cruz de La Palma. Generally, it runs every 30 minutes except weekends and fiestas when it is every hour - except for the big fiestas such as the Los Indianos fiesta when it runs more frequently. Here is the bus website.
If you're keen to find out more information about La Palma airport itself, here is the website: La Palma Airport website.
Happy travels!
Check-in desks
Arrivals and baggage re-claim (4 carousels)
Shopping (pharmacy and Jerónimo (funky clothes and gifts:)
Airport information desk (sometimes with free bananas)
Flight information offices for Iberia, Condor, Air Berlin and Binter where you can make enquiries, buy tickets and make a late check-in if your gate is closed (not a popular move by the way).
Car hire offices - we highly recommend booking your car hire in advance because otherwise you will have to queue up just to ask the price as prices are not displayed. (Or you can just book a rental car with us and you will be met with your car in the airport car park on the S2 level.)
The 1st floor (floor 1 in the lift) is departures.
Once through control (no photos please ... oops, sorry about that) there is also a snack bar and vending machines. From here there are flights to fourteen destinations - London Gatwick, Manchester (winter only), Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Bonn, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Tenerife North and Gran Canaria.
Level S 0 is the entrance to the car park where you collect your ticket
Level S1 is staff parking and for certain hire cars
Level S2 is public parking, and the main bulk of hire cars
Level S3 is to the small sea pools set in the rocks by the waters edge.
There is also a regular bus service, the number 500 bus, between the airport and Santa Cruz de La Palma. Generally, it runs every 30 minutes except weekends and fiestas when it is every hour - except for the big fiestas such as the Los Indianos fiesta when it runs more frequently. Here is the bus website.
If you're keen to find out more information about La Palma airport itself, here is the website: La Palma Airport website.
Happy travels!
