Although the runway was completed in 1994, the terminal did not open until 1999. As of August 2019, there are two return flights per day to Tenerife North and two return flights per day to Gran Canaria.[4]
Although 34 km (21 mi) from the island capital, the airport was located here to avoid disturbing the Garajonay National Park and avoid the cloudier and foggier climate to the North of the island. Whilst the volcanic terrain gives few suitable sites anywhere on La Gomera, this site required extensive embankments at both ends of the runway.
History
Aviation in the island of La Gomera started in the 1950s, when a private airfield was constructed. Its name was "El Revolcadero" and it was situated on a hill west of the new airport.[5]
This airfield had a runway (09-27), an hangar and a small stand which was used as control tower. The airfield was for the owner's private use, for cargo and fumigation works.
In 1962, the island had a lot of sanitary assistance problems[clarification needed], so studies to build an airport in the island were started, but this project was not carried out until 1975. However, due to the opening of the Tenerife South Airport and a new maritime line with the island, the project was again delayed.
Finally, in the 1980s, problems with wounded snake-bite evacuations necessitated building an airport in the island, and on 27 July 1987, an agreement for the construction of the airport was signed.[6]
At the end of 1994 the airfield had a runway (09-27), an aircraft parking and a taxi way to the runway. The elected place to build the installations was the "Meseta de los Acantilados" (Plateau Cliffs), which is located 2 kilometers from the old airfield of "El Revolcadero".
At the end of 1991, when Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA), literally "Spanish Airports and Air Navigation", took over the airport, a passenger terminal was built, which was inaugurated in 1992. This passenger terminal has two floors and we can see in it the typical canarian architecture.
In the next chart, the evolution of passengers traffic by year is indicated.[7]
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
30,774
34,496
38,852
40,569
41,890
34,605
32,252
32,713
19,707
24,446
28,954
34,954
38,042
48,711
61,944
77,584
54,388
81,367
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Annual passenger traffic at GMZ airport.
See Wikidata query.
