Madeira International Airport is also known as Funchal Airport. This airport serves international as well as domestic traffic. Madeira InternationalAirport was opened in 1964 with two runways of 1,600m.Until the runway was extended the airport was regarded as one of the most dangerousrunways due to its short length. In the year 2000 the runway was extended upto 2,781m.This extension was one of the largest structural project in Madeira with the construction cited above the ocean. This airport has a very tricky landing due to its location which is in between high mountains. The airport is partly located on the ocean line.

Why is it unique

Originally, the runway was just 1600 meters long and in 2000, it was lately prolonged upto 9000 feet. Engineers had a great challenge to built a large girder bridge with a massive support of 200 pillars. This huge structure can handle the weight of every big and small aircraft. Instead of utilizing the landfill the extension was widened on ocean with a series of 180 concrete pillars each 70 meters tall. The exact location of the airport is 16 km away from the Funchal which is the capital of Madeira Island. This airport is the major gateway to the city of Santa Cruz. While construction special care was taken on embankment for decreasing the impact on the environment.

Madeira International Airport was awarded as the Outstanding Structure in 2004 for its marvelous and successful extension. The design as well as the structural formation of the runway is environment friendly. This airport is home to all major European Airlines. The construction cost reached upto 520 euro million and the airport has the capacity to carry around 3.5 million travelers. The runway was further extended in 1977. The sole reason for the extension of the runway was the incident of Portugal Flight.