While this review is about a Spanish airport, Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria (LPA), I'll reference an…read moreItalian expression - "fare una bella figura." It means to make a good impression, even if you've got a shit show going on in the background. The Spaniards probably have an expression for the same thing, given that they've got fancy sounding names with many appended surnames and similarly like lengthy formal titles for putting forth that aura of importance. Let's put this observation into practice. When you ask a little kid how old he or she is, they will typically tell you verbally if they are 2 or 4, yet just hold up three fingers if they are 3. Then, when you ask a person with more recent Hispanic roots living in America what they majored in, and it was business, they will typically say "business administration," usually enunciated as "been-ness ammee-nee-stray-shiohn." That's because the term for it in the Spanish world is the lengthy phrase "administracion de empresas." So, coming around to their important airports on their archipelagos, the Spaniards do succeed in making a good impression ... at something that is actually practical!
I've only been to two AENA-run island airports - this one (Gran Canaria, or LPA) and the main one in the Balearic Islands (at Palma de Mallorca, or PMI). I don't remember PMI very well, though I believe I was impressed by how spacious and clean it was. The same holds true for this one - LPA.
The Italians have a nice air station at Olbia (OLB) for the most touristic part of Sardinia and its exclusive Costa Smeralda - the Emerald Coast - and LPA reminds me of that airport. However, LPA seems to be a little bit bigger and about equal in how visually appealing the facility is. Part of the reason is that Gran Canaria is also an important tourist destination and it's where Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the administrative hub of the autonomous Canary Islands region, is located. It is also interesting to learn that Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, being so far from Madrid, is Spain's 7th most populous city, so an airport that fits the bill is necessary.
The thing that is most noticeable about the airport is how large it is, especially once inside. It seems like there is an original terminal and an appended one. In the appended one, it's almost scaleless in how big its corridors are. And it doesn't even have a lot of foot traffic. Maybe it's reserved for growth.
The areas in which you check-in or board planes are capacious. I found a lot of room for queuing at check-in and sufficient space to spread out and relax once past security and in the gate area. The best thing about my experiences at LPA is that they've always used a jetway, or jet bridge, for every flight, even if it's a short flight on commuter aircraft such as a CRJ or an Embraer product.
There are the typical food facilities, with food costing less than if at airports in Paris or Frankfurt, and the employees here have been casually friendly and helpful. It could be that I really do get what I put out: I probably am more simpatico with normal, middle-aged Latin European airport employees than annoying millennials working in food and beverage in neighborhoods overrun by hipsters! Also, the luggage makes it to the baggage claim area fairly quickly.
There are only a few demerits at LPA. It has to do with getting from the airport to the rental cars and ground transportation. You have to walk through that lengthy, soulless terminal and then cross onto a wide vehicular island. The rental cars are in the lower subterranean level of that island's parking structure. The island's buses, run by Global, are at the outer edge of that island. With the airport sensibly located about halfway between Las Palmas and the touristic areas of Playa del Ingles / Maspalomas, Global has you covered. It's the #60 to Las Palmas, with stops at both the San Telmo and Santa Catalina city terminals, and the #66 to Playa del Ingles / Maspalomas. The coaches are comfortable, clean, and priced like an urban bus route anywhere. Either way, indications inside the terminal to transportation options could be better.
Gran Canaria is a beautiful island where the coastline differs in each part of the island, has a mountainous interior, has a quaint, clean, and friendly city in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and has mild year-round climate. Then, Spain's Iberia, Vueling, and Air Europa are all present here, as are many Western European flag carriers and Europe's low cost airlines. In summation, Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria (LPA) is a fitting way to arrive in or depart from the most populous island, and city, in the Canary Islands archipelago.
