Arrecife Airport in Lanzarote is not for the faint-hearted, especially if you’re delayed, with the small hub serving millions of people every year
Airports can make or break a holiday, and I’m just fortunate this time that I only saw a glimmer of chaos as I was leaving.
Arrecife Airport, Lanzarote’s only airport, has developed a reputation for being one of the worst for passenger delays, something we’ve all had to deal with at some point in our lives. While most of the time, they are out of anyone’s control, the major blow comes when the airport itself is far too small to cope.
Latest figures suggest the small airport is designed to cope with nine million passengers, a figure that was nearly reached alone in 2024 with 8.7million recorded as passing through. According to Canarian Weekly, this demonstrated a 6.1% increase on 2023. Reportedly, tourism figures have already seen an uptick this year in February, with summer yet to make its imprint.
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I visited Lanzarote out of peak-season, and therefore ignorantly expected the airport to at least be manageable in terms of queues. While checking-in was super easy, along with bag-drop, navigating the small and disproportionate terminal building was not. Armed with a sleepy toddler, a pram, and a few hand luggage bags, the whole experience quickly escalated into something of a nightmare.
On arrival to the airport we had been informed numerous flights back to the UK had been delayed due to poor weather and visibility – something no one can help. But the impact of this at Arrecife was dire – with no place to sit, let alone stand, while queues of people attempted to get food, or even reach their gate.
When we decided to brave one of the long lines for dinner, we were made to wait an hour for our order to simply be handed to my husband, who then spent around 10 minutes trying to get through swarms of people to find us. We had reluctantly perched on the end of someone’s table.
But, this wasn’t the lowest point, as our three-hour delay was mostly spent sat on the floor up against a shop’s shutters for the duration, trying not to get stood on by passers-by. For the first time ever I wished I fitted into my daughter’s stroller to escape the madness.
Am I the only one to feel utterly dumbfounded by my experience? Apparently not, as Skytrax, a reviewing platform, is littered with people of a similar opinion to mine. One traveller from Czech Republic said: “This was the worst airport we have ever been after visiting many places. Very dirty and very unpleasant! No respect and empathy to pregnant woman. The only positivity is a lot of restaurants and food to select on such a small place.”
Another person added: “Queuing for boarding, my g**, what c****** designed this airport. You had to queue to cutting across the main concourse of the airport, blocking everyone up and next to toilets.”
Recent updates have claimed that the airport is set to see an additional 45 border officers deployed to cope with long queues at passport control and security.
What needs to change?
Firstly, small things could be handled better – and this includes designated places for people to queue for their gates. Currently, 100 or so people are made to snake through the terminal to board each plane as the gates themselves are merely lay-bys in the main departures area. Roped off areas is a must, at least for now, especially when delays are so frequent and more people will be waiting inside the airport.
With just over 3.3million tourists visiting Lanzarote for their holiday last year, these niggling issues are not going to go away. The Canary Islands have long been a popular hotspot, and I don’t see that changing ever due to their warm, all-year-round climate, pristine beaches and close proximity to the UK. Just a three to four hour flight, it’s a no brainer for families, or people who don’t like to travel too far.
Long-in-the-pipeline plans are in place for the airport’s terminal one and two buildings to be joined together to improve space. María Teresa Cuenca, the airport’s director, has previously said the main terminals will be “remodelled”, with terminal one’s boarding area expanded, and a new section for people coming in from terminal 2 to filter across into the commercial part of the airport.
Work on this is not due to start until 2027, so tourists heading to the glorious island of Lanzarote, which is worth the airport hell by far, should hope they are not delayed on leaving at least for the next two years.
