Santiago de Compostela Airport — officially Santiago-Rosalía de Castro (IATA code SCQ), and still widely known by its old name, Lavacolla — is Galicia’s main airport and the busiest of the three. It’s located about 12-14 km from the historic centre, in the village of Lavacolla, traditionally the pilgrims’ last stop to wash before entering the city.
Key facts
- IATA code: SCQ — named after the 19th-century Galician poet Rosalía de Castro
- Location: Lavacolla, 12-14 km from Santiago’s historic centre
- Terminal: single terminal, small and easy to navigate
Airlines and destinations
Iberia and Vueling cover most domestic routes, with regular connections to Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura). On the international side, KLM (Amsterdam), Lufthansa (Frankfurt) and Aer Lingus (Dublin and Cork) run year-round or seasonal routes, alongside links to London and Zurich.
2026 has been a particularly strong year for new routes: United Airlines launched Galicia’s first-ever scheduled transatlantic service, a seasonal Newark connection running three times a week through September, Vueling added Marrakech, and KLM began flying to Amsterdam. Summer 2026 also brought new domestic links to Jerez de la Frontera and Ibiza.
Planned closure: the airport is scheduled to shut down for 35 days between 23 April and 27 May 2026 for runway resurfacing and landing-system upgrades, with all flights affected during that window. A Coruña Airport (Alvedro) is set to absorb much of the rerouted traffic in that period — worth checking if you’re flying around those dates.
Getting from the airport to Santiago’s city centre
- City bus (line 6A, Tussa): runs every 20-30 minutes on weekdays and every 30-60 minutes on weekends, roughly between 6:30am and 12:30am. The fare is paid in cash to the driver, around €1; a separate, slightly higher fare has been floated but wasn’t confirmed as of this writing, so it’s worth checking tussa.gal before travelling. The ride takes 25-50 minutes depending on traffic and ends near Praza de Galicia, right by the old town.
- Taxi: official rank right outside the terminal, no need to book ahead outside of very early flights. The ride takes 15-20 minutes and usually costs €20-25 — some sources cite a flat fare of around €21-23 for trips within 15 km.
- Car rental: available at the airport, with desks generally open 7am-midnight. Worth it mainly if you’re continuing on to other parts of Galicia rather than just going into the city, since the airport-to-centre distance itself is short.
From Lavacolla toward the Ribeira Sacra
Of Galicia’s three airports, Lavacolla is the most convenient starting point for the Ribeira Sacra: the drive is around 1 to 1.5 hours via the A-54 and A-56 to areas like Monforte de Lemos or Sober, making it the natural choice if that’s your main destination.
