Madeira Airport formerly known as Santa Catarina Airport), is an international airport located near Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. The airport controls national and international air traffic of the island of Madeira. It was first opened on 18 July 1964 with two 1,600m runways.

 

The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean, made it a tricky landing for even the most experienced of pilots. The original runway was only 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in length, but was extended by 200 metres (660 ft) 8 years after the TAP Portugal Flight TP425 incident of 1977 and subsequently rebuilt in 2000, almost doubling the size of the runway, building it out over the ocean.

 

Instead of using landfill, the extension was built on a series of 180 columns, each being about 70 metres (230 ft) tall. For the enlargement of the new runway the Funchal Airport has won the Outstanding Structures Award, given by International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE).It is considered to be the second most dangerous Airport in Europe after Gibraltar Airport.

 

The work of extension of Madeira Airport conducted by the Brazilian construction company Andrade Gutierrez, is a work recognized worldwide as one of the most difficult to achieve due to the type of terrain and topography. In 2004, Dr Manabu Ito, President of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) presented in Shanghai, China, the award for 2004 IABSE Outstanding Structure Award

 

Between 1982 and 1986, Madeira's runway was successfully extended to total 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), and also four gates were opened.

In 2000, the runway had once again been extended, and it opened on 15 September.

 

The airport has a single terminal which opened in 1973. The terminal itself is mostly underground.