Fuerteventura El Matorral Airport (FUE)
History, Facts and Overview

(Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain)

The island of Fuerteventura became an important stopover point for many planes visiting the Canary Islands during the early part of 1920s. In the 1940s, an airport opened within the island's Tefia region, although this was used solely by the military, until 1959, when it opened as an international civilian airport. However, as the airport was a fair distance from Puerto del Rosario, it soon became necessary to relocate and a suitable site was found in El Matorral.

The Fuerteventura El Matorral Airport of today was officially opened in 1969 and regular flights between Las Palmas, Lanzarote and Tenerife began, along with European destinations further afield, such as Dusseldorf.


The next 20 years saw many significant improvements as passenger levels soared, and by the early 1990s, more than 1.5 million people were flying in and out of El Matorral Airport each year, bringing great prosperity to Fuerteventura's now thriving tourism industry.

On the first floor you will find two Air Zone Shops, which sell a wide variety of merchandise, including confectionary. Also popular is the airport's Fuerteventura Handicrafts store, Crafts florist and the Chocolate ice cream parlour. For refreshments at the airport, popular choices include Café-Café, Cafeteria Medas and Häagen Dazs. Other facilities at Fuerteventura Airport include three ATMs, a tourist information booth, children's play area and an observation deck with good views across the runway.