Airport Guide: Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport is the second biggest airport on the Canary Islands and accounts for three fourth of the traffic on Tenerife. Even though there is just a single runway, nearly 10 million passengers a year use Tenerife South Airport. As there are dozens of flights each day, there is a decent infrastructure including shopping and dining facilities.
Due to its size, Tenerife has two different airports. Tenerife South Airport is the most important one and accounts for three fourth of the traffic on Tenerife. Several legacy carriers including Aeroflot, Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Air Europa, Austrian Airlines, British Airways and Iberia got direct flights to destinations in Europe all year round.
Air Berlin offers dozens of weekly flights to Tenerife
Several low-cost carriers also offer year round flights to Tenerife South Airport. Additionally, there is a lot of seasonal traffic.
Most important carriers on Tenerife South Airport:
- Air Berlin: Several destinations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria
- Ryanair: Several destinations throughout Europe
- Thomson/TUI: Several destinations throughout Europe
- Thomas Cook: Several destinations throughout Europe
Shopping and dining at Tenerife South Airport
Nowadays, Tenerife South Airport got a decent infrastructure. However, you shouldn’t expect a shopping or dining paradise. Instead, you’ll find a selection of shops selling souvenirs, books, travel equipment and clothes.
There are a few shops at Tenerife South Airport
There are also some other shops, but rarely any luxury brands. When it comes to dining, you’ll most likely have to rely on bars, bistros and diner style restaurants. For example, you may enjoy Burger King prior and after security.
- Overview of all shops at Tenerife South Airport
- Overview of all bars and cafés at Tenerife South Airport
- Overview of all (fast food) restaurants at Tenerife South Airport
Sleeping at Tenerife South Airport
Tenerife South Airport is definitely not an airport, which is laid out for layovers. There are not any sleeping facilities at the airport and even though the airport stays open all night, there are no areas for rest. That said, you may better opt for a hotel when you have a very late arrival or early departure.
Most holiday resorts are located a little further away from the airport
While there are no real airport hotels, you can find some budget hotels nearby. Yet, none of these offers a shuttle service. Other options include three or four star properties not far away from the airport, but these are mainly holiday properties and should cost a little more.
Lounges at Tenerife South Airport
Even though several dozen flights depart from Tenerife South Airport each and every day, there’s just one rather tiny lounge. We reviewed Sala VIP Montana Roja earlier and were everything but impressed. The food offerings are average at best and all the seating is well past its prime.
Sala VIP Montana Roja is an average lounge at best
The airport also comes with a weird Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, it may be the best place to spend some time prior the departure of your flight if you got complimentary access through Priority Pass, your frequent flyer card or because you are flying Business Class. You may also pay cash, but after having visited the lounge, I can’t recommend doing so.
Lounges at Tenerife South Airport:
- Sala VIP Montana Roja: All airlines, PP, $
Transportation at Tenerife South Airport
As Tenerife is a holiday destination, the public transportation network is a little underdeveloped. Nevertheless, there are several options to get from Tenerife South Airport to most cities on the island with a bus. TITSA, the bus operator on Tenerife, offers a non-stop connection to Santa Cruz de Tenerife and also a connection to Tenerife North Airport.
Most resorts offer shuttle services for incoming passengers
Other destinations may also be reached without having to change the bus line. There are also taxis available and as these are relatively cheap, they may also be an option to get you to your hotel. Other options include rental cars, which are offered by several companies, and pre-booked shuttles by hotels, tour operators or private companies.
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Excellent post. Last year we had to visit this airport, because when on the way to Madeira, its airport was closed thru the heavy wind and our flight was rerouted to Tenerife. We had three hours to make acquaintance of this airport.
In 1969, I worked on Canary Island, having my base in Las Palmas, but I had to take care of Tenerife flights also. At those days, its airport was Los Rodeos. In 1977, there was plane crash in Tenerife in which died 583 passengers. I remember this very well, because I was called for help to Las Palmas, because after that accident, all flight was rerouted to Las Palmas and they needed help.
Thanks for the comment! The tragedy of Tenerife is something I’ve been reading a lot about (even though I wasn’t even born at this point). Luckily, nothing like that ever happened again on one of the Canary Islands 🙂
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