Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna Airport
Tenerife North, Los Rodeos to islanders, is the airport for Spain and the other Canary Islands: 7.17 million passengers in 2025, almost all of them on domestic flights. It is 20 km from Puerto de la Cruz and 10 km from Santa Cruz, which makes it the quick way in to Hotel Botánico, Gran Hotel Taoro and Garachico if you are flying via Madrid, Barcelona or another island. Small, easy and early to open, this is how it works, checked against Aena and the services themselves.
The 30-second version
Most flights here are Spanish or inter-island, so there is usually no passport control in either direction: off the plane, collect the bags on the ground floor and go. For Puerto de la Cruz, line 30 leaves from Floor -1 and reaches the Jardín Botánico stop in 23 to 28 minutes for a guide fare of €4.75; a taxi takes about 22 minutes to Hotel Botánico. Going back, Aena suggests an hour and a half before a Spanish or Schengen flight. Peninsula flights board upstairs and inter-island flights downstairs, and the Nivaria lounge, open from 05:15, is the only one.
Book a private transfer
Booked with
A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
Binter Canarias, Canaryfly, Iberia, Air Europa, Vueling, Plus Ultra, Enter Air and Privilege Style
One terminal, opened in 2002. Check-in and arrivals are on the ground floor; flights to the Spanish mainland and abroad board upstairs from 8 gates, inter-island flights downstairs from 9.
Arrivals are on the ground floor. On a flight from Madrid, Barcelona, another island or anywhere else in Schengen there is no passport control: follow the signs straight to baggage reclaim. Only flights from outside Schengen, such as Caracas, go through passport control, where non-EU passports are registered on the EU's Entry/Exit System with fingerprints and a facial image on first entry.
The screens give your carousel. A lost or damaged bag goes to the airline's handling desk before you leave the hall: Aena lists Binter Canarias, Menzies and South Europe Ground Services.
Montecelio in the arrivals hall serves coffee from 05:00 to 23:00, and the Tenerife tourist information desk opens 08:00 to 21:00 every day except 25 December and 1 and 6 January. Aena's free wifi is unlimited once you verify your email. A phone plan from an EU country works here at home rates; otherwise set up an eSIM before you fly.
TITSA's line 30 runs to Puerto de la Cruz, stopping at Jardín Botánico in 23 to 28 minutes, with 19 departures on weekdays from 07:30 to 23:20 and 14 at weekends; Aena's guide fare is €4.75. Line 20 goes to La Laguna and Santa Cruz for €2.65, and the 343 runs to Tenerife South four times a day.
Take one only from the signed rank, as Aena advises, and ask for a receipt. Fares are on the Canary meter: €3.85 for the first 1.5 km and €1.35 a km by day, €4.25 and €1.55 at night, on Sundays and holidays, plus €2.10 from the airport. To Hotel Botánico, 25 km, that is about €38 by day.
A private transfer driver waits in arrivals with a name sign. The car hire desks on Floor 0 are Cicar, Europcar, Goldcar-InterRent, Hertz, Sixt and TopCar. With Teide, La Orotava, Masca and Teno all drives from our northern hotels, most guests here want a car.
Aena suggests an hour and a half before a Spanish or Schengen flight, the great majority from here, and three hours before a non-Schengen one. Your airline's bag-drop deadline still decides it.
The desks are on the ground floor. With hand luggage only and a boarding pass on your phone, go straight to security.
Fast Lane costs €11.10 on Aena's VIP services site and runs from 05:15 to 22:00. Scan the QR code, then your boarding pass, at the priority entrance. A purchase is valid for three months, and business-class tickets and some airline loyalty cards include it.
After security, find your gate on the screens. Flights to the Spanish mainland and abroad board on the top floor, from 8 gates; inter-island flights board on the ground floor, from 9. Non-Schengen flights also go through a passport check.
The Nivaria lounge is upstairs in departures, after security. On the ground floor, where the inter-island flights board, Tabernnus, La Manon and Pannus open from 05:00 to 05:30, and there are two comfort areas on that level; upstairs, Dorada opens at 05:30.
Passes marked Book a pass are sold through GetYourGuide, which shows the price, hours and terms before you pay; we may earn a commission.
Every lounge in detail
Open early enough for the first Madrid flight, with an outdoor terrace that Priority Pass notes; the one quiet room in the building.
Book a passPizza al taglio and pasta near the Peninsula gates; a better use of a Priority Pass visit than a sandwich in the lounge if you are hungry.
DoradaAirside, first floor, departures
A tapas bar for Iberian charcuterie and a good range of beers. 05:30 to 21:00.
La BoutiqueAirside, first floor, near gates 20 to 29
Italian from the Trattoria Viajera people: pizza al taglio and stuffed pasta. Priority Pass gives €23 off.
SohoAirside, first floor, departures
Healthy food to take away: fresh salads, wraps, sandwiches, juices and smoothies. 06:00 to 20:00.
TabernnusAirside, ground floor, departures
Mediterranean tapas and montaditos at the bar with a glass of wine, from 05:15 to 20:00.
La ManonAirside, ground floor, departures
French-style boulangerie with pastries and Galician empanadas, open from 05:00 to 20:00, so the best breakfast for a dawn flight.
PannusAirside, ground floor, departures
Bakery-café for coffee and something quick, 05:30 to 22:00.
FoodiesAirside, ground floor, departures
A gourmet shop for Canarian produce and specialities to take home, 05:30 to 21:00.
MontecelioLandside, arrivals
Coffee and tea in the arrivals hall, 05:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and from 05:30 at weekends: where to wait for a late flight in.
Look at which floor your gate is on before you sit down: the eating and drinking is split between the ground floor, where the inter-island flights board, and the top floor, where the Peninsula and international flights board. Everything airside opens early, most of it by 05:30, and Fast Lane from 05:15. For something to take home, Foodies sells Canarian produce and La Casa de los Balcones Natura sells work by local craftsmen. There is a book exchange in the terminal if you have finished your holiday novel.
Yes. Aena lists children's play areas and breastfeeding rooms at Tenerife North. In the Nivaria lounge, under-6s go free and 6 to 10-year-olds pay €21.25. The airport is small enough that the walk from check-in to any gate is short, which counts for a lot with a pushchair.
Aena's Sin Barreras assistance service meets you at a signed meeting point or on board, and takes you through check-in, security and on to your seat. Request it with your airline or with Aena at least 48 hours before the flight, on +34 91 321 10 00, open 07:00 to midnight. Accessible toilets are throughout the terminal, and Aena's hidden disabilities badge helps staff spot that you may need support.
Every flight from Tenerife North is covered by EU rules. If you reach your final destination three hours or more late for reasons that are not extraordinary, you are owed compensation: €400 for flights of more than 1,500 km within the EU, which covers Madrid and Barcelona, and €250 for 1,500 km or less, which covers the inter-island hops. The airline also owes you refreshments while you wait.
Tenerife North wakes early: Montecelio landside at 05:00, Fast Lane and the Nivaria lounge at 05:15, and La Manon, Tabernnus, Pannus and Dorada airside by 05:30. The first line 30 bus from Puerto de la Cruz reaches the airport at 08:35 on weekdays and 07:43 at weekends, so for anything earlier ask the hotel to book a taxi the night before; from Hotel Botánico it is about 22 minutes.
Tenerife North is the airport for Hotel Botánico and Gran Hotel Taoro in Puerto de la Cruz, 22 and 27 minutes away by road, and for Hotel San Roque in Garachico, 47 minutes. Hacienda del Conde is about an hour from either airport. For the Costa Adeje and west-coast hotels, Tenerife South is much closer. Our transfers page has the bus times, the meter fares and the drive time to every hotel.
Questions people ask
Yes, Aena's Nivaria VIP Lounge, upstairs in departures after security, open 05:15 to 21:15. Entry is €45.95 for adults and €21.25 for children aged 6 to 10, payable at the door, and Priority Pass members get in.
Aena suggests an hour and a half before a Spanish or Schengen flight and three hours before a non-Schengen one.
Yes, Aena's Fast Lane costs €11.10 and runs from 05:15 to 22:00. Buy it on Aena's VIP services site and scan the QR code with your boarding pass.
Only for flights to and from outside the Schengen area. Flights to the Spanish mainland, the other Canary Islands and the rest of Schengen have none.
TITSA's line 30 leaves Floor -1 and reaches the Jardín Botánico stop in 23 to 28 minutes, with a guide fare of €4.75. A taxi takes about 22 minutes to Hotel Botánico and costs about €38 by day.
Eight, according to Aena: Binter Canarias, Canaryfly, Iberia, Air Europa, Vueling, Plus Ultra, Enter Air and Privilege Style. Madrid is the busiest route, with more than a million passengers.
10 km, according to Aena. TITSA's line 20 runs to La Laguna and Santa Cruz for a guide fare of €2.65.
Yes, the Airport Free Wifi Aena network. Verify your email within 15 minutes and it is unlimited.
Image credits: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). (CC BY-SA 4.0)