Gran Canaria Airport car hire pick-up and return
For car hire at Gran Canaria Airport, every car is handed over at one named place, Airport Gran Canaria (LPA), and a car booked as a return goes back there at the end of the hire. The airport sits in Telde and Ingenio on the east coast, 18 km south of Las Palmas and 25 km from the tourist coast in the south, and Aena keeps it open 24 hours a day.
Popular hire cars at Gran Canaria Airport
Where do I meet the car when I land?
In arrivals. The car is met in the arrivals area of the terminal, and your voucher gives the meeting instructions for that car. Suppliers differ in how they run the handover, so read the voucher before you fly and have it on your phone or on paper when you land.
What do I need to bring to collect the car?
The driving licence itself, the card the booking asks for, and the voucher. The licence has to be a valid national licence with its details in Latin script, and it must not expire before the last day of the hire. Photocopies and electronic licences are not accepted at the handover.
Licences issued in the EU and the EEA, which includes Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, are valid in Spain while they are in force. For a licence from outside the EU and the EEA, the page that Spain's traffic authority, the DGT, writes for tourists says you need an International Driving Permit as well, carried with your passport or ID card; the permit is valid for one year and is shown together with your licence, never on its own. If your licence is valid only in the country that issued it, the rental conditions strongly recommend the permit as well.
Every one of the cars on offer at the airport, from four-seat city cars to nine-seat vans, needs a category B licence. The minimum age is set per car at 23, 25 or 26, and the upper limit at 65, 70 or 75. Each car also asks for one, two or four years of driving experience. The agent can refuse the handover to a driver who does not meet the figures on that car's page, so read them before you pay rather than at the airport.
Do I need a credit card, or will a debit card do?
It depends on the car, and the car says which before you book. Some airport cars take either a debit or a credit card for the deposit. Others need a physical, embossed credit card in the main driver's name, and on those cars a debit card is not accepted for the deposit. The search has filters for both, so you can list only the cars that suit the card you are travelling with.
Whatever the card, it has to be the physical card in the main driver's name, not a phone wallet and not a card belonging to a passenger. The booking itself can be paid by Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. How the rest of the hire is paid, how the deposit is held and when it is released are shown during booking and printed on the voucher. The deposit amount is set car by car, and so is any insurance above the standard cover.
Can someone else drive, and can I add a child seat?
On most cars, yes, as paid extras chosen at booking. The airport cars list four extras between them: a second driver on the contract, a child seat, a booster seat and an infant seat for babies under one. Not every car carries every extra, and the price differs from supplier to supplier, so the car's listing is the place to check. No car in the listings offers satellite navigation as an extra.
Spanish law requires a child restraint for any child 135 cm tall or shorter, fitted in a rear seat of a car with up to nine seats. A rear-facing seat may go in the front only with the front airbag switched off.
What if my flight is late?
Handover hours are set by each car's supplier and differ between suppliers and between dates. The rental conditions require the phone number you gave at booking to be reachable from the day before pick-up until the car is back, by call or by messenger, and no complaint about the service is accepted if the supplier could not reach you on it. Keep that number switched on through the flight and the landing.
The minimum charge is 24 hours. A car booked from Monday morning and returned on Tuesday afternoon is charged as two days. If you need the car for longer than booked, tell the supplier before the end of the hire; an extension is arranged in advance, not at the return.
How do I return the car, and where do I fill the tank?
Bring the car back to the airport with the same amount of fuel it had at pick-up. If the level is lower, the supplier charges the difference at its own rate; if it is higher, you are not paid back for the extra. Take a photo of the fuel gauge at the handover.
The nearest station to the terminal is a Repsol on the GC-1 at km 16, about 0.3 km from the P1 car park and open 24 hours. The CEPSA at Ojos de Garza, at km 17 of the same road, is about 0.7 km away and opens 06:00 to 22:00. The BP at El Carrizal, on the GC-812 in Ingenio, is about 2.6 km away and open 24 hours.
Leave the car clean enough to inspect: a car returned so dirty that the check cannot be done is washed at your expense. For a night flight home, note that the terminal closes to the public at night and lets passengers in during the two hours before their scheduled departure, so plan the return inside the supplier's hours and your own check-in time.
Which way out of the airport?
The airport sits on the GC-1, the road that runs from Las Palmas down the east and south coasts to Mogán. North of the airport it is a dual carriageway into the city; from exit 16, the airport junction, it becomes a motorway heading south. The limit on both is 120 km/h unless signs say lower, and 90 km/h on ordinary roads.
Heading south, Bahía Feliz is 20 minutes away, Playa del Inglés 27 and Maspalomas 30, and the drive to Maspalomas from the airport stays on the GC-1 as far as exit 46. Puerto Rico takes 40 minutes and Puerto de Mogán 45. The table gives the times and distances from the airport's terminal road, without traffic.
| Destination | Km | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Bahía Feliz | 24.7 | 20 min |
| San Agustín | 30.7 | 26 min |
| Playa del Inglés | 31.1 | 27 min |
| Las Palmas (centre) | 25.6 | 27 min |
| Maspalomas | 35.1 | 30 min |
| Meloneras | 38.3 | 31 min |
| Arguineguín | 43 | 33 min |
| Puerto Rico | 48.6 | 40 min |
| Puerto de Mogán | 54.8 | 45 min |
| Roque Nublo | 50.9 | 1 h 6 min |
Search the airport cars
for your dates.
Pick-up at Gran Canaria Airport, your dates, and every car's deposit, card rule and mileage shown before you pay.
Search cars for your datesCan I leave the car somewhere other than the airport?
Yes, on the cars that allow it. From the airport, cars can be left in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Meloneras, Bahía Feliz, Puerto Rico or Las Palmas, and the price shown for a one-way hire from the airport already includes whatever the supplier charges for it. The car is still collected in arrivals.
Explore Gran Canaria
Drive times from the airport to the south coast resorts.
Car hire questions
Short answers to what people ask before they collect a car at the airport.
Is Las Palmas Airport the same as Gran Canaria Airport?
Yes. The code LPA comes from Las Palmas, and the airport is often called Las Palmas Airport, but it is Gran Canaria Airport, in Telde and Ingenio, 18 km south of the city.
Can I take the hire car to another island?
Some cars are approved for the inter-island ferries and some are not. It is decided car by car, so ask before you book rather than after.
Is there a mileage limit?
On some cars. Some airport cars have no limit and others carry a daily limit of 175 or 200 km; each car's page states which applies.
Can I hire a car for a few hours?
The shortest chargeable period is 24 hours, so a hire of a few hours is charged as one day.
Can I drive the car on dirt tracks?
No. The rental conditions allow hire cars on paved public roads only, so the unpaved tracks in the interior are off limits.