Travel to La Palma
(Santa Cruz de) La Palma has airport code SPC, and should not be
confused with either Las Palmas (de Gran Canaria - on another Canary
Island), Palma (de Mallorca - on the Baleares in the Mediterranean) or
Santa Cruz (possibly more than one in the Americas).
Flights from continental Europe
Scheduled flights. Apart from a number of interisland flights (see
below) there is one daily direct return flight La Palma - Madrid,
operated by Iberia (part of the OneWorld alliance with American
Airlines). You can usually connect to this flight from Europe and other
continents. Some direct flights from Germany to La Palma are also
operated as scheduled services.
Charter flights. There are a large number of charter flights direct
to La Palma from several cities in Germany, and from Switzerland, the
Netherlands, and the UK. Some of these flights can be booked as
scheduled flights, in connection with intercontinental flights. Check
out Lufthansa for the flights to La Palma from Germany with their
daughter Condor, or KLM from the Netherlands on Transavia. The one
weekly flight from the UK is operated as a charter only by JMC and can
be booked through travel agents (including some on the web) in the UK.
Inter-island flights and ferries
There are frequent inter-island flights from Tenerife (north airport,
TFN) to Santa Cruz de La Palma, and twice a day from Gran Canaria
(LPA). Air Binter (a member of the Iberia group) operates these
flights. Flights to La Palma should be booked in advance with the main
ticket as seats are not always available in these small planes unless
booked early. Flights take about 20 minutes from Tenerife and 50 minutes
from Gran Canaria.
There are many scheduled and charter flights to Tenerife and Gran
Canaria. Most charter flights to Tenerife operate from the south airport
(TFS) and a transfer to the north airport will take at least one hour
driving time, so at least about 3 hours must be accounted for. You can
travel between airports by taxi (cost maybe around 60 Euros), by
bus
(direct or via Santa Cruz de Tenerife) or by rental car (ask for one-way
to the north airport, there are often cars available at a cheap rate).
A ferry service is also operated daily between Santa Cruz de La Palma
and Tenerife by Fred Olsen.
This leaves Los Cristianos in the touristic South of Tenerife in the
evening, and returns from La Palma during the night.
Trasmediterranea
operates one or two ferries a week between La Palma and Tenerife.
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