Plane Spotting - Madeira Airport, Portugal

Jets swing in over the Atlantic and touch down on the runway at Madeira Airport, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and this plane spotting stream follows them from a hillside close to the action.

The airport, officially called Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport after the island's most famous son, lies about 8 miles (13 km) east of Funchal. It opened on July 8, 1964, with a runway just 5,249 feet (1,600 m) long.

Hills and cliffs at one end mean pilots must fly a visual approach with a sharp turn before landing, and they need extra training to fly here. In 2025 the airport handled about 5.65 million passengers.

Did You Know? When the runway was extended in 2000, part of it was built out over the ocean on 180 columns, each about 230 feet (70 m) tall.

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