Santiago de Compostela Lavacolla Airport (SCQ)
History, Facts and Overview

(Santiago de Compostela, Spain)

In the early 1930s, an aerodrome was established close to Santiago de Compostela, next to the town of Lavacolla. A triangle of runways was soon in place and following the end of the Second World War, the airport was completed and opened for business in the middle of 1948.

Over the next decade, a series of improvements were made to Santiago Airport, including the building of a communications centre and surfacing of the main runway. The 1960s saw many more enhancements, when a new control tower and terminal were built, greatly improving overall capacity and appearance. Today, the same terminal remains in use at Santiago Airport, only it has been extended and modernised a number of times of the years by AENA (Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aerea).


Facilities at Santiago Airport include ATMs, a bank and a popular information desk. There are two restaurants and a café (Cafeteria Medas) in the terminal, which serve drinks and food. Shopping can be found in the terminal's seven retail shops, selling a wide array of gifts and daily sundries, such as gifts at Celticar, books at Divers, jewellery and Vidal & Vidal, and Spanish handicrafts at Artesania Galicia Internacional. Duty-free items can be bought in the International Departures area at the outlet of Travel Value.

The terminal at Santiago Airport also houses a tour operator and two travel agents to help with your travel plans. Four major car hire firms have offices here and the airport offers short- and long-term parking in its single car park, where there are around 1,200 spaces.