Madeira International Airport, or recently named Cristiano Ronaldo Airport in honor of the ace born on our Island of Madeira, is our gateway and receiving about 3 million passengers per year! Our Airport is in the Municipality of Santa Cruz and is located 16kms from the Madeiran capital, Funchal. The first flights to arrive at our island were through amphibious jets mooring off the coast.
First amphibious aircraft on Madeira Island
For those who do not know our Airport part is built on the sea next to a mountain, so the winds are a constant and the landing sometimes, always watching over your safety, are a real work of art.
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroporto_da_Madeira
The first landing happened in 1957 on a makeshift track of 1600 meters! Over the years the track has undergone several extensions in order to receive other flights, namely intercontinental flights, over the decades the track went from 1600 meters to 1800 meters and the final expansion work was carried out by Eng. António Ramalho Segadães Tavares . This was a remarkable work of engineering on a planetary scale, with 180 pillars built on the sea and receiving the most prestigious engineering award (IABSE OSTrA – Oustanding Structures Award in 2004), the so-called “Engineering Oscar”.
Cristiano Ronaldo Airport extended
Throughout these 60 years of activity and thousands of landings, only one accident occurred in 1977, due to the meteorological conditions, the small size of the lane, the main factor being human failure.
The island of Madeira as a unique tourist destination, a destination that is an experience full of colors, flavors, aromas, unique landscapes, could only have a very special airport, you deserve a arrival in beauty, with some adrenaline, full of charms and above all of security.
See the link (source youtube) some of the beautiful landings at our airport:
Some enlightened ones call our airport dangerous but the numbers speak for themselves, do not go in songs, we are just … UNIQUE!
Marco Vieira
CEO & Founder Madeira Island Vacations
RNAVT 7305