If landing in Madeira a few years ago was synonymous with ‘dread' due to the size of the ‘mini’ runway, nowadays you can sit relaxed while the pilot makes the final landing manoeuvres.

You can be at ease today because on the 15th of September 2000 Madeira Island inaugurated one of the biggest constructions ever executed in the region, amounting to a total investment of about 520 million Euros.

Madeira's new Intercontinental Airport, boasting a runway of 2781 m length, has given the island a new image for the new millennium. The new airport capacity is 3.5 million passengers/year and all types of passenger aircrafts are now able to land and take off from this airport.
To extension of the runway by one kilometre was one of the most ambitious constructions on the island, especially if one considers that the pillars of the runway measure in total 120 metres, 60 m above and 60 m under sea level. The old runway was turned three degrees to the north to assume what is now its final position.