Fuerteventura Airport History

In 1940 work began on a military airfield in Tefia, which would be opened to commercial traffic in 1959. The distance from the capital and the increased number of commercial flights led the authorities to search for a location for a new airport.  In 1952 the facilities were closed in Tefía and they began to use the Los Estancos, 5 kilometers from the capital.

On February 19th 1954 the Council of Ministers adopted the Charter of the Municipal Economic Fuerteventura municipalities, allowing the consolidation of local economies. At this time it began to question the need to rename Puerto Cabras, a change that was approved by the Cabinet on March 16th 1956, changing its name to Puerto del Rosario, a name that has been kept.
During the 60s, many majorero migrated to other islands.  The Sahara and the capital is growing slowly due to the influx of people from villages in the interior. The airport is finally at Matorral, which would be inaugurated in 1969. A Fokker F27 made the trip from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (LPA) to Fuerteventura (FUE) and from Lanzarote (ACE) was the first airplane to land at the new airport.   International flights from Fuerteventura began in 1973, and flights would increase year on year.

After Franco’s death and the decolonization of the Sahara, in 1975 the Tercio Juan de Austria of the Legion, commanded by Colonel Pallas, arrived in Puerto del Rosario, staying on the island until 1995.  Well received at first, although not by all its inhabitants, the arrival of the Legion brought on one hand, the revitalization of the economy both in the capital of the island as a whole and also problems and conflicts of a sudden growth of the population.

In 1992 a total refurbishment of the airport facilities was carried out. Around 1994 there began the expansion that included a new passenger terminal, expansion of the aircraft platform, a power plant and the new access road.

In 1994, the U.S. transatlantic American Star, sank 200m off the coast of the island, in the Borough of Pajara.   2001 was a year in which the former Fuerteventura Airport terminal, now demolished, was notorious for becoming a center for immigrants. The state of the facilities and unsanitary conditions in which people were confined there and their guards, led the protests by various groups.