Gibraltar Airport

Gibraltar: the airport where the main road crosses the runway

Gibraltar International Airport (IATA GIB, ICAO LXGB) lies on the narrow isthmus between the Rock of Gibraltar and the Spanish border at La Línea de la Concepción, so close to town that the terminal is a ten-minute walk from Main Street. Its single runway juts into the Bay of Gibraltar at both ends and, famously, is crossed by the main road to Spain; the road closes for every landing and take-off, and the airport is regularly listed among the most unusual in the world. It is a Royal Air Force station with a civilian terminal, serving the British territory and the Spanish hinterland of the Campo de Gibraltar. The live radar on this page shows the approaches past the Rock; the arrivals and departures pages are linked above it.

Airlines and destinations

All scheduled flights go to Britain: British Airways flies from London Heathrow and easyJet from London Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham, with the schedule heaviest in summer. Flights to Morocco and other Spanish cities have been tried and dropped over the years, and there is no service to Spain, where a bitter dispute over the airport's status lasted decades. In our route data, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol are the only connections. The approach is notorious for wind off the Rock, and flights divert to Málaga when the crosswind is too strong.

Getting into Gibraltar and across to Spain

You can walk: the town center is a quarter of an hour on foot across the runway road (when it is open) and through the Landport tunnel. Buses 5 and 10 run from the terminal into town and to the frontier, and taxis take five minutes. For Spain, walk or drive across the frontier two hundred meters from the terminal, where passport control and customs apply; La Línea bus station is a few minutes beyond, with buses to Algeciras, Málaga and Seville. Rental cars are available on both sides; many visitors rent on the Spanish side to avoid the frontier queues for cars, which can last hours.

Good to know

The terminal, opened in 2012, is a single bright building with a handful of gates and short walks; ninety minutes before departure is enough, and bags are screened to British standards. Gibraltar is British territory outside the EU and Schengen, so entering Spain means a full border crossing, and the sterling-based Gibraltar pound is the currency. Flights are frequently delayed or diverted by the wind, especially with a strong levanter from the east; Málaga, an hour and a half away by road, is the diversion airport and the far bigger alternative, and Jerez lies an hour and a half to the northwest. Every airport we track is listed in the airport overview.