Lajes Airport

For the airport serving Lages, Brazil, see Lages Airport. For military use of the airfield, see Lajes Field.

Lajes Airport (IATA: TER, ICAO: LPLA) is located in the parish and Vila das Lajes, in the municipality of Praia da Vitória, on Terceira Island, in the Azores.

Lajes Airport Base Aérea das Lajes Aeroporto das Lajes
IATA: TER ICAO: LPLA
Summary
Airport type	Civil
Serves	Praia da Vitória/Angra do Heroísmo
Location	Lajes
Built	1934
Elevation AMSL	55 m / 180 ft
Coordinates	38°45′43″N 027°05′27″W
Map
LPLA Location of Lajes Field in the Azores
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 15/33 3,314 10,873 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 631,236 Aircraft operations 5,415 Metric tonnes of cargo 2,774
Source: Portuguese AIP[1]

Overview

Check-in area

Apron view

Lajes Airport not only serves Terceira but is also a hub providing international access to the Azores. It shares a runway and control and support structures with the military Lajes Field. Its runway is the longest among the airports of the Azores, measuring about 3300 meters in length. Aerogare Civil das Lajes (ACL) has a capacity of 750,000 passengers per year and 360 passengers per hour as of the last requalification. It is the closest international airport in Europe measured from eastern United States, for example 3,969 kilometres (2,466 mi) from New York.^[2][3]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Lajes Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Azores Airlines	Boston,[4] Lisbon, Porto, Toronto–Pearson[5] Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau,[citation needed] New York–JFK[citation needed]
Edelweiss Air	Seasonal: Zurich[6]
Ryanair	Lisbon,[7] Porto[7]
SATA Air Açores[8]	Corvo, Flores,[9] Graciosa,[9] Horta,[9] Pico,[9] Ponta Delgada, São Jorge[9]
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon[10] Seasonal: San Francisco[11]
TUI fly Netherlands	Seasonal: Amsterdam[12]

Accidents and incidents

• On August 24, 2001, Air Transat Flight 236 suffered from fuel exhaustion over the Atlantic Ocean due to a fuel leak. The pilots diverted to Lajes and landed safely.^[13]

• On September 8, 2023, Delta Airlines Flight 157 suffered from a mechanical issue with a backup oxygen system over the Atlantic Ocean. The pilots diverted to Lajes and landed safely.^[14]

• On July 6, 2025, Delta Airlines Flight 127 suffered from engine mechanical issues over the Atlantic Ocean. The pilots diverted to Lajes and landed safely.^[15]

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at TER airport. See Wikidata query.