Spanish airport closes

Santiago-Rosalía de Castro airport in Galicia closed on April 23 for 35 days, halting all takeoffs and landings until May 27. (aena.es) Spanish airport operator Aena said the shutdown is needed for deep runway resurfacing and related airfield work. The project also includes new lighting, drainage and safety-area leveling on both sides of the runway. (aena.es) Aena put the contract value at €31.6 million in February 2025, and later described the investment as €33 million. It said crews will use about 75,000 tonnes of new pavement and install 888 LED airfield lights, plus 28 kilometres of primary cable and 76 kilometres of secondary cable. (aena.es) The closure hits one of northern Spain’s busiest airports. Santiago-Rosalía de Castro handled 3,120,759 passengers and 24,837 aircraft movements in 2025, according to Aena. (aena.es) The airport sits about 10 kilometres northeast of Santiago de Compostela, the Galician city that draws pilgrims and tourists year-round. Aena says the terminal opened in its current expanded form in 2011 with capacity for 5 million passengers a year. (aena.es) Airlines are shifting part of that traffic to nearby A Coruña during the shutdown. Aena said A Coruña airport expects 1,486 flights over the 35-day period, including 630 extra services tied to Santiago’s closure. (aena.es) A Coruña said its operations will rise by more than 70% during the closure, and some days in May will top 50 flights. The airport has added cleaning, security and maintenance support and opened a provisional parking area with about 700 extra spaces. (aena.es) The transferred routes listed by Aena at A Coruña are Palma de Mallorca, Seville, Málaga, London and Paris. Travelers heading for Santiago de Compostela now face longer onward trips by road or rail through late May. (aena.es) The runway work began in January in overnight windows, but April 23 started the full daytime closure needed for the deepest repairs. If the schedule holds, Santiago-Rosalía de Castro reopens on May 27. (aena.es)