Atlantis-Lajes.com

AIRPORT INFORMATION

1. LAJES AIRPORT is a multipurpose military/civilian airfield, ICAO/IATA codes LPLA/TER. Portuguese Air Force Air Base nº 4 also known as "Base das Lajes" or "Lajes field" is located to the east side of the 15-33 runway. On the opposite side there is a modern rebuilt civilian terminal, handling commuter, domestic, technical stops and international flights to / from and beyond Terceira island.

Lajes hosts a detachment of the United States Air Force known as the 65th Air Base Group, providing support to US Department of Defense assets, due to a bilateral agreement between Portugal and the USA known as Lajes bilateral Portugal - USA agreement.

The authority that presides over the airfield is the Portuguese Air Force, with the civilian terminal management under the umbrella of the Azorean Regional Government.

In order to use Terceira island Lajes airport as a destination or intermediate stop, operators need to apply for a PPR. All relevant procedures for this purpose can be found through the Civilian Terminal website, via this direct link or by direct contact with airport operations at phone + 351 295 545 461. Alternatively, the PPR may be obtained through any of the ground handling agents.

This facility receives both domestic and international traffic, is a EU point of entry provided with customs services with Schengen and non Schengen passenger approved areas. Ground handling services are offered by Gestavia, Omni Handling and Sata Azores Airlines.

For arrivals/departures boards and other relevant information at the civilian terminal, please click here.

The civilian terminal has a convenient passenger lounge sponsored by Sata Azores Airlines, located airside, on the left hand side of the boarding hall, after the security checkpoint and a VIP lounge at arrivals level, dedicated for technical stops.

The latest statistics for travelling passengers through Lajes airport shows an average of 1 million passengers passing through in 2024 and 1.012.000 in 2025, with over 13.500 commercial aircraft movements logged.

Lajes sees domestic and international traffic all year round. On average, 20 domestic services link Terceira island with the other eight islands in the Azores, plus Madeira island twice per week (by Sata Air Açores), plus links to Oporto and Lisbon (Azores Airlines and Tap Air Portugal). Internationally, there are seasonal summer flights to Zurich (Edelweiss Airways, a member of Lufthansa Group) and San Francisco (Tap Air Portugal). United Airlines has announced a new seasonal flight linking New York JFK airport to Lajes, from june 9th 2027. Further to these, Azores Airlines operates year round services to Toronto and Boston.

2. What makes Terceira - Lajes airport a convenient stopover point?

a)  Lajes is provided with one of the longest and largest runways in the Northern hemisphere, 3312 meters long x 50 meters wide;
b)  Has a modern terminal building handling all kinds of civilian traffic;
c)  Has full rescue services to ARFF Category 8 according to the AIP Portugal, regularly published by the Portuguese regulatory agency NAV Portugal. Please note that aircraft category 9 criteria or higher, have operated at Lajes, namely Airbus A340-300, Boeing 747-400 and other B747 variants plus the B767, B787 and B777 variants like the 777-300ER. From the east, the Ilyushin IL76, plus the Antonov An124 and even the An225, before it was destroyed, have operated at Lajes quite often. Operators can decide, depending on a previous risk evaluation, to fly into Lajes;
d)  Is open 24/7. There are no night curfews;
e)  Appropriate security is provided at no cost to the operators;
f)  Convenient fuelling services provided by GALP Aviação. Refuelling with passengers on board is directed to specific parking spots for this purpose, at Echo 08 and 09, just outside the fire department building. Please note the fire department is a service under the USAF umbrella, they do not detach a fire engine to other parts of the airfield, except in emergency situations.
g)  Catering service provided by AAC - Assistência a Aeronaves e Catering Lda;
h)  Lajes is one of the leading diversion sites in the North atlantic track in case of emergencies (medical or technical reasons) and was in the past one of NASA's Space Shuttle designated TAL - Transatlantic Abort Landing sites;
i) Plenty of hotel availability and transportation. Driving times downtown are just a mere 15 to 20 minutes. For crew and passengers resting there are several hotels at Terceira. Please turn to our hotels and resorts page for a detailed guide to these units.

3. For a comprehensive description about Lajes Airport and its history, read here.

4. Carbon Tax. As many operators are aware, the Portuguese state passed a law in 2023, extending the carbon tax to aircraft below 19 seats. Decree 242/2023, dated july 28th 2023, applies this tax to aircraft, passengers and operators. However, as the Azores are an autonomous territory, this tax needs to be accepted and implemented by the Azores Regional government. Until the fall of 2026, this tax has never been charged at Lajes and ongoing talks state that it may never be implemented, due to the military nature of Lajes airport. So, before flying into Lajes, operators are requested to check with the aiport ops or through the respective handling agent, to confirm the carbon tax status.

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