Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) closed yesterday — April 23 — and won’t reopen until May 27, 2026. That’s 35 days. No aircraft movements of any kind: no departures, no arrivals, no cargo, no exceptions. Spanish airport operator AENA is running a €31 million runway resurfacing project that can’t happen with planes on the ground.

Every flight to and from SCQ through May 27 is canceled. Ryanair, British Airways, Vueling, Iberia — all of them. There are no partial operations, no limited services, no “check back closer to the date.”

The timing lands squarely on peak Camino de Santiago pilgrimage season, when April and May see thousands of spring walkers arriving to start their journey — or finishing it and flying home. If you’re in that group, or booked on any Galicia flight in the next five weeks, here’s what you’re dealing with and how to route around it.

Situation at a Glance — April 24, 2026

Airport	Santiago de Compostela (SCQ), Galicia, Spain
Closed	April 23 – May 27, 2026 (35 days, complete shutdown)
Reason	Runway resurfacing — €31M AENA project
Carriers affected	Ryanair, British Airways, Vueling, Iberia (all SCQ flights canceled)
Exceptions	None — zero aircraft movements during closure
Nearest alternative	A Coruña (LCG) — 70 km north, ~1 hr by rail
Compensation	Rebooking or refund — yes. EC261 delay/cancellation cash — likely no (extraordinary circumstances)

Bottom line: Your SCQ flight is gone. Get to A Coruña, Vigo, or Porto, or get a full refund. Don’t wait on airlines to come to you.

What the Closure Actually Covers

The shutdown is total. AENA’s runway renovation requires the full length of the runway to be closed simultaneously — the kind of project that can’t run alongside aircraft operations the way terminal construction can. The April 23–May 27 window was announced months in advance; carriers had time to plan and have largely already notified affected passengers.

If you haven’t heard anything yet: check your email, including spam, and check your booking reference directly through the airline’s website or app. Some passengers with bookings via third-party sites (Expedia, eDreams, etc.) have reported slower notification. Don’t assume your flight is fine because you haven’t gotten an email.

Your Three Rerouting Options

Three airports can stand in for SCQ. They vary significantly in what they offer and how long the transfer takes.

A Coruña (LCG) — The Practical Default

A Coruña Airport sits 70 km north of Santiago de Compostela. The rail connection is the real asset here: direct trains from A Coruña (San Cristóbal station) to Santiago de Compostela run in under 30 minutes, with buses as a backup option (total door-to-door time is roughly an hour).

For most affected Ryanair and Iberia passengers, A Coruña will be the airline’s own rerouting choice. Both carriers serve LCG. If your airline is offering rebooking to an alternative airport, this is likely where they’ll put you. The catch: LCG is a smaller regional airport with fewer international connections than SCQ. It handles mostly domestic Spanish routes and a handful of European destinations. If you were flying into SCQ from London Stansted on Ryanair, a reroute to A Coruña is workable — trains are fast and frequent. If you were flying from farther afield with a connection, the options get more complicated.

Best for: Ryanair passengers, domestic connections, anyone flexible on ground transport.

Vigo (VGO) — Slightly Further, More Options

Vigo Airport is 90 km south of Santiago. Train time from Vigo Urzáiz station to Santiago de Compostela runs around 52 minutes; add transfer time and you’re looking at roughly 1.5 hours total. The road journey is similar.

Vigo has a broader route network than A Coruña, with more connections to Madrid Barajas (MAD) — which matters if you’re connecting on to a long-haul flight. Vueling serves VGO with reasonable frequency. If your original SCQ itinerary routed through Madrid, a Vigo-to-Madrid connection is worth pricing before writing off this option.

Best for: Vueling passengers, travelers routing via Madrid, anyone who needs a bigger network than LCG can provide.

Porto (OPO) — The Long Shot Worth Checking

Porto Airport in northern Portugal is 220 km from Santiago. That’s roughly 3.5 to 4 hours by car or bus, depending on whether you take the high-speed toll road or the regional bus network. ALSA runs direct coach service between Porto and Santiago de Compostela; the journey is around 3 hours and costs well under €30 each way.

Porto carries a much larger international route network than either Galician alternative. If you were flying to SCQ from North America, Asia, or anywhere that requires a long-haul connection, OPO is worth a serious look. TAP Air Portugal operates OPO as a hub, with direct transatlantic routes to Newark, JFK, Boston, Miami, and multiple US cities. British Airways serves Porto from Heathrow directly.

The distance is the real downside. Four hours of ground transport after a long flight is not enjoyable. But if you’re choosing between Porto with a direct long-haul flight versus A Coruña with a connection routed through Madrid, Porto sometimes wins on total journey time.

Best for: Long-haul travelers, North American connections, anyone on British Airways who can’t make the A Coruña routing work.

How to Find Alternative Flights Right Now

Check the airline rebooking offer before you buy anything independently. This is the most important step and most people skip it. If your airline canceled your SCQ flight, you’re entitled to a full cash refund or free rebooking on an alternative routing. Use that first. Buying a replacement ticket out of pocket before invoking the airline’s offer can compromise your reimbursement rights.

How to check your rebooking options:

1. Find your booking reference number in your original confirmation email
2. Log into the airline’s app or “Manage My Booking” portal
3. Look for a cancellation notice or rebooking offer — it may already be there
4. If the airline is offering a free reroute to A Coruña or Vigo, compare the ground transport time against their alternatives before accepting
5. If the default rerouting doesn’t work for your schedule, call and ask specifically about OPO — agents have more flexibility than the automated rebooking tools

For searching alternatives independently: Google Flights is the right starting tool. Search origin-to-Santiago rather than origin-to-SCQ, and look at what’s routing the result — you’ll see Vigo and A Coruña connections appear, and occasionally OPO with a bus as a noted “multi-city” option. Our Google Flights vs. Skyscanner comparison covers which platform is stronger for European routes; the short version is Google Flights is better for EU routing, but Skyscanner sometimes surfaces budget carrier options (especially Ryanair alternatives at secondary Spanish airports) that Google misses.

What You’re Owed

The SCQ closure is planned maintenance — it’s not a weather event, a strike, or an airline operational failure. That matters for EC261 compensation.

Under EU regulations, airlines must offer affected passengers either a full cash refund or rebooking on the next available service at no extra cost. That obligation stands regardless of whether the cancellation is within the airline’s control.

What doesn’t apply: the EC261 cash compensation payments (€250–€600 based on flight distance). Airlines can claim “extraordinary circumstances” exemptions when cancellations are outside their control. A planned airport closure ordered by a regulatory authority is a strong basis for that exemption. Expect the airlines to apply it — the rebooking/refund obligation remains, but the additional cash payout almost certainly doesn’t.

The practical upside: all four major carriers (Ryanair, BA, Vueling, Iberia) have had months to plan, and their rebooking processes should be cleaner than the chaotic waivers that came out of the Dubai airport cap or Middle East flight disruptions earlier this spring. This is a known, scheduled event; the airlines’ systems are already loaded with the cancellations. Our full breakdown of what airlines owe passengers under EU261 and where compensation falls short covers the legal framework in more detail.

For Camino de Santiago Pilgrims

SCQ’s closure window lands exactly where it hurts most for the Camino. The Camino Francés from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port typically takes 30–35 days; walkers who set out in early-to-mid March are arriving in Santiago right now or in the coming weeks. Walkers who planned to start in late April and fly into SCQ directly are facing the same disruption.

A few things specific to pilgrims:

Arriving: If you’re flying to start a Camino in Spain, Santiago airport isn’t actually the most common entry point. Many Camino walkers fly into Madrid, Barcelona, or Bilbao and travel overland to their starting point. If your original plan was to fly into SCQ and take a bus directly to Saint-Jean or Pamplona, you can route through any of the three alternatives — or fly into Bilbao or Madrid instead. Bilbao (BIO) is a reasonable entry point for the Camino Francés with good connections from London and other European cities.

Finishing: If your Camino ends in Santiago and you’re flying home from SCQ in the closure window, you have three options. Take the train to A Coruña and fly home from there (simplest, for short-haul European routes). Route through Porto if you need a transatlantic connection. Or adjust your end date — finish later, fly after May 27 when SCQ reopens, and add a few buffer days in Galicia. Many pilgrims won’t have the schedule flexibility for the last option, but it’s the cleanest solution if you can swing it.

Note on accommodation: A Coruña and Porto are both worth a night if you’re routing through them. A Coruña is a compact, walkable Galician city that most walkers skip entirely. The waterfront and old town are worth a few hours. Porto is obvious. Neither is a consolation prize.

Ground Transport Options From the Alternative Airports

A Coruña to Santiago de Compostela:

• Renfe regional rail: ~29 minutes, under €10, multiple daily departures
• Monbus/Alsa coach: ~1 hour, €5–8, frequent service
• Taxi or rideshare: ~50 minutes, €50–70 depending on traffic

Vigo to Santiago de Compostela:

• Renfe regional rail from Vigo Urzáiz: ~52 minutes, around €10–15
• Coach: ~1.5 hours, similar price range
• Taxi: ~1 hour, €60–80

Porto to Santiago de Compostela:

• ALSA direct coach from Porto airport or Campanhã station: ~3–3.5 hours, around €20–30
• Rental car via the A3/AP-9 motorway: ~2.5–3 hours

The Rebooking Checklist

How to Handle a Canceled SCQ Flight in 5 Steps

1. Locate your booking reference in the original confirmation email and log into the airline’s app or website
2. Check for a cancellation notice or rebooking offer — do this before buying anything
3. If the airline is offering an A Coruña or Vigo reroute, verify the ground transfer works for your schedule before accepting
4. If you need a refund instead of a reroute, request it explicitly — a cash refund to the original payment method is your right
5. Screenshot and save all cancellation notices, rebooking offers, and any receipts for expenses incurred — you’ll need these if you file a credit card trip protection claim

For travelers who booked with a premium card: Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum include trip interruption coverage that can apply to downstream costs (rebooking ground transport, extra accommodation nights) even when EU261 cash compensation doesn’t. The trip must be charged to the eligible card to qualify.

The Bottom Line

SCQ is closed. This isn’t uncertain — the runway work started yesterday and the airport is dark until May 27. Your four realistic options:

1. Reroute through A Coruña (LCG) if you’re on a Ryanair or Iberia short-haul European route — it’s the simplest swap and the train to Santiago is fast
2. Reroute through Vigo (VGO) if you need Madrid connections or are on Vueling
3. Reroute through Porto (OPO) if you’re coming from outside Europe or need a bigger international network
4. Take a full cash refund and rebook independently if none of the airline’s alternatives suit your schedule

Check the airline first. The waiver and rebooking options exist — use them before spending your own money on a replacement ticket. And if you’re doing the Camino: A Coruña and Vigo are both reasonable bases, the trains are reliable, and arriving a day early to buffer the rerouting is worth building in.

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SCQ closure dates confirmed by AENA. Airline rebooking terms, transfer times, and train schedules are subject to change — verify directly before booking ground transport or accepting a rerouting offer.