Santiago de Compostela closes

Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport will shut to all air traffic from April 23 to May 27, leaving Galicia’s busiest airport without takeoffs or landings for 35 days. (aena.es) Aena says the closure is needed to renew the runway pavement, with the deepest work requiring a full 24-hour shutdown after months of overnight construction that began on January 13. The airport says the daytime closure will run through May 27. (aena.es) The airport handled 3,120,759 passengers and 24,837 operations in 2025, according to Aena. Airlines and tour operators have been planning around the closure for months because Santiago is one of the main air gateways to Galicia and the Camino de Santiago. (aena.es) (csj.org.uk) Aena says the runway project also includes work on the airport’s low-visibility landing systems, which guide aircraft in poor weather, and the broader package carries a budget of €31.6 million. The operator says the aim is to preserve operational safety for the coming years. (aena.es) The timing lands in the middle of spring travel, not the quieter winter season. Santiago is the arrival point for many pilgrims and visitors heading to the cathedral city, and rerouting now pushes more traffic onto other Galician airports, trains and buses. (aena.es) (xacobeos.com) A Coruña is taking the biggest share of the diverted flying. Aena said on April 15 that airlines plan 1,486 flights there during the 35-day closure, up from 856 originally scheduled, and the airport is adding about 700 parking spaces while boosting cleaning, security and maintenance. (aena.es) Aena says airlines were told about the closure far enough in advance to adjust schedules, and it is telling passengers with questions about cancellations, rebooking or new departure airports to contact their airline directly. Santiago’s airport homepage now carries the closure notice at the top. (aena.es 1) (aena.es 2) If the work stays on schedule, flights return on May 28 and the airport reopens with a rebuilt runway ahead of the summer peak. Until then, every trip to Santiago by air starts somewhere else. (aena.es)