Funchal Airport (FNC)

Advantages: Clean , good facilities , well layed out ,all mod cons , good duty free
Disadvantages: Not such a good departure lounge , too many using the airport at once

...Madeira this year and, seeing Funchal airport on this site, wanted to give a brief summary. Funchal airport is actually situated about an hours drive from the capital , Funchal . It is called Santa Caterina and is quite near to Santa Cruz on the eastern side of Madeira . As you approach the island you travel over Sao Laurences a barren and brown looking rocky headland that tapers out a fair way into the Atlantic Ocean. From here you glimpse Machico ...
...now have direct flights to Funchal airport on Madeira . We flew with TUI from Manchester on a boeing . We landed about 7.30am , in September to a calm , humid but cloudy morning . Disembarking from the plane and looking round I was struck immediately by how modern and well kept this airport is . A coach took us from the runway to the airport buildings . On entering you are greeted by a pleasant building with two floors . The whole place has a very ... Read review

Advantages: Free WiFi connection while you wait
Disadvantages: Very slow passport control

On the first occassions we flew in and out on charter flights from the UK and in 2004 by TAP from Lisbon. We had arranged a taxi transfer through the hotel on all visits and this worked well every time. Returning to the airport is also easy: the road connections are very good. Provided the entrances are not blocked by queues for a charter flight, finding the right check-in desk is also easy. Passing through the first security screen requires only ...
...two X-ray machines ... of course slower. Fully air-side, you may think all has gone well. Here comes the big gotcha: if you are flying to the UK, you now need to get through passport control. Yes, there are eight stations but on every occassion I am sure that there has been only one officer. Now imagine three flights worth of people all needing to get through at once: not funny. It is for this reason that I have classified the airport tax as unreasonable. ... Read review

Avoid Funchal airport - the checkin for a TAP flight to London Gatwick was horrendous - two checkin desks were staffed but one refused to take any passengers - as a result the queue extended out of the door - a wholly unnecessary wait for many families with young children.

Advantages:
Disadvantages: tired looking with little facilities

...cramped luggage collection exiting the airport was on everyones mind. The queues were large on departure but at least they kept moving. There were little or no facilities in the departure terminal. A stewed cup of coffee and a balcony view of the runway was the best Funchal could offer. ... Read review