# El Hierro Airport (VDE / GCHI)

**El Hierro Airport** (IATA: VDE, ICAO: GCHI) is a medium airport in El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, Spain. It opened in Dec 1972. It has one runway, 1,250 m (4,101 ft) long, asphalt. It is operated by ENAIRE. In 2025 it handled 312 thousand passengers.

Web page: https://dromopedia.com/airports/gchi

## At a glance

- IATA / ICAO: VDE / GCHI
- Type: Medium airport
- Operator: ENAIRE
- Serves: El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, Spain
- Opened: Dec 1972
- Elevation: 31 m / 103 ft
- Coordinates: 27.8148, -17.8871
- Runways: 1
- Longest runway: 1,250 m / 4,101 ft
- Passengers: 312,195 (2025)
- Time zone: UTC+0/+1 · Atlantic/Canary
- Website: http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-El-Hierro/es/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Hierro_Airport (25 languages)
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1431249
- Weather station: GCHI · WMO 60001
- Ident: GCHI

## Timeline

- Dec 1972: El Hierro Airport opens.

## Runways

| Ident | Length | Width | Surface | True headings | Lighted |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 16/34 | 1,250 m / 4,101 ft | 30 m / 98 ft | Asphalt | 153° / 333° | yes |

## Passengers per year

| Year | Passengers | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2014 | 147,543 | Eurostat |
| 2015 | 146,789 | Wikidata |
| 2016 | 156,441 | Wikidata |
| 2017 | 200,132 | Wikidata |
| 2018 | 123,525 | Eurostat |
| 2019 | 268,414 | Eurostat |
| 2020 | 177,489 | Eurostat |
| 2021 | 234,225 | Eurostat |
| 2022 | 273,498 | Eurostat |
| 2023 | 300,805 | Eurostat |
| 2024 | 321,413 | Eurostat |
| 2025 | 312,195 | Eurostat |

## Routes

2 destinations in 1 country. From the airport's Wikipedia article.

### Year-round (2)

- [TFN](https://dromopedia.com/airports/gcxo.md) Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna Airport · Spain · 169 km / 105 mi · Canaryfly, Binter Canarias
- [LPA](https://dromopedia.com/airports/gclp.md) Gran Canaria Airport · Spain · 246 km / 153 mi · Binter Canarias

## Airlines

The figure is how many destinations each airline flies from VDE, as the routes above have them. Hubs from Wikidata.

### Passenger (2)

- NT [Binter Canarias](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/binter-canarias) · 2
- PM [Canaryfly](https://dromopedia.com/airlines/canaryfly) · 1

## Rankings

Ranked among 48,075 open airports; = marks a shared place.

| Measure | Value | World | Region | Country |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Passengers | 312K (2025) | #1,324 of 3,974 | #86 in Africa | #31 in ES |
| Longest runway | 1,250 m / 4,101 ft | =9,255 of 29,858 | =768 in Africa | #64 in ES |
| Elevation | 31 m / 103 ft | =36,731 of 43,403 | #2,859 in Africa | #272 in ES |
| Age | Opened 1972 | =6,630 of 15,079 | =82 in Africa | =50 in ES |
| Runways | 1 | =4,364 of 29,978 | =176 in Africa | =25 in ES |

## Radio frequencies

| Type | Description | MHz |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A/D | CANARIAS APP | 126.100 |
| GND | GND | 121.600 |
| TWR | TWR | 118.100 |

## Nearby airports

- [GMZ](https://dromopedia.com/airports/gcgm.md) La Gomera Airport · 70 km / 44 mi
- [SPC](https://dromopedia.com/airports/gcla.md) La Palma Airport · 91 km / 57 mi
- [TFS](https://dromopedia.com/airports/gcts.md) Tenerife Sur Airport · 132 km / 82 mi

## Sources

- [Eurostat](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/avia_paoa/default/table): Source: Eurostat (avia_paoa) (Eurostat reuse policy (CC BY 4.0))
- [NOAA Aviation Weather Center](https://aviationweather.gov/data/api/): Weather data: NOAA Aviation Weather Center (Public Domain (US Government))
- [OurAirports](https://ourairports.com/data/): Airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org): Structured data from Wikidata (CC0 1.0)
- [Wikipedia: “El Hierro Airport”](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El_Hierro_Airport&oldid=1363035205), revision of 7 Jul 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [timezone-boundary-builder](https://github.com/evansiroky/timezone-boundary-builder): Time zone boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, timezone-boundary-builder (ODbL 1.0)
- Every figure with its source: https://dromopedia.com/airports/gchi/data