Aeroporto da Madeira - Madeira, Portugal
Posted by: 
manchanegra
N 32° 41.608 W 016° 46.521
28S E 333571 N 3618698
Madeira Airport (IATA: FNC, ICAO: LPMA), also known as Funchal Airport and Santa Catarina Airport, is an international airport located near Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
Waymark Code: WMC1P5
Location: Arquipélago da Madeira, Portugal
Date Posted: 07/15/2011
Views: 35
Madeira Airport (IATA: FNC, ICAO: LPMA), also known as Funchal Airport and Santa Catarina Airport, is an international airport located near Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. The airport controls national and international air traffic of the island of Madeira.
The airport was opened on July 18th, 1964 with two 1,600m runways.
The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean. Only the most experienced would fly there, and, even for those, it was a very tricky landing.
The original runway was only 1600 meters in length, but was extended by 200 meters 8 years after the TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 incident of 1977 and subsequently rebuilt in 2000, almost doubling the size of the runway, building it out over the ocean. Instead of using landfill, the extension was built on a series of 180 columns, each being about 70m tall.
This airport is also considered the Kai Tak of Europe because of its singular approach to runway.
For the enlargement of the new runway the Funchal Airport has won the Outstanding Structures Award, given by International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE).
The Outstanding Structures Award is considered to be the "Oscar" for engineering structures.
From wikipedia
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