MADEIRA · AIRPORT TRANSFERS · FUNCHAL
The plane lands, the terminal empties in twenty minutes flat, and every visitor at the curb is weighing the same two options: the airport bus or a taxi. Madeira’s bus answer is a single line, the Aerobus, which runs the coast road west from the airport, crosses central Funchal, and carries on to Praia Formosa at the far end of the hotel strip.
One figure is missing from the official paperwork, and it happens to be the price. The Regional Government’s Aerobus timetable prints stops, journey times and departure times, and no fare at all. So there is no ticket price to quote below, only the operator’s number to call: 291 201 151.
THE TRANSFER AT A GLANCE · MADEIRA
The Aerobus links the airport to Funchal and Praia Formosa on one line of 26 stops; plan a taxi for arrivals after 22:00, departures before 07:00, a pile of checked bags or a child seat.
AEROBUS 08:30 TO 22:00 FROM THE AIRPORT · 26 NUMBERED STOPS · FARE NOT PRINTED
Go for: one line that calls at Avenida do Mar, Mercado, Avenida do Infante, Lido and Forum Madeira, which puts most Funchal beds within a block or two of a numbered stop.
Think twice before: counting on the bus on 25 December, when the operator prints no service, or on a Sunday, when the Sunday and holiday sheet drops several weekday departures.
Route, stops, times: SIGA Madeira official Aerobus timetable · Cable car hours: Teleférico do Funchal · full sources at the end
On this page
- The Aerobus route and its 26 stopsAirport to Praia Formosa through central Funchal
- First and last Aerobus departures08:30 to 22:00 from the airport
- The Aerobus ticket priceNot printed: the number to call
- A taxi after a late-evening landingThe cases the bus does not cover
- What time to leave Funchal on departure dayLast run toward the airport at 21:00
- A Funchal base near a numbered stopWhere to stay in Madeira
The return leg deserves the same five minutes as the arrival. The last Aerobus toward the airport leaves at 21:00, the cable car up to Monte stops running at 17:45, and trail entries are booked in fixed 30-minute slots. Departure day is built backward from those clocks, not forward from breakfast.
Madeira airport to Funchal: the Aerobus route and stops
The Aerobus is one line with two ends: Madeira airport to the east, Praia Formosa to the west, and the middle of Funchal in between. Travelers booked in the old town get off halfway along. Travelers booked on the Estrada Monumental stay aboard past the city and ride the hotel strip.
The official sheet numbers 26 stops. The names a first-timer actually recognizes cluster in the city and west of it: Avenida do Mar (stop 6) for the marina and the cathedral quarter, Mercado for the Mercado dos Lavradores, Avenida do Infante for the hotels above the gardens, then Lido and Forum Madeira, with several more calls along the Estrada Monumental.
End to end, airport to Praia Formosa, the timetable gives 50 minutes. That is the figure to budget when your hotel sits at the western end, and it is the only full-line duration the operator publishes.
For the inner stretch, Praia Formosa to Avenida do Mar, the same sheet gives 15 to 30 minutes. A fifteen-minute spread on a short urban run is published as a range, not a promise, so a traveler with a tight connection onward should read the top of it rather than the bottom.
One caution about older maps and blog posts: stop 9, Terminal SAM, is marked DESATIVADA (disabled) on the official timetable. A stop printed on a map from a previous season is not a stop that gets served, and waiting at one is a quiet way to miss the bus you paid for.
Aerobus timetable from Madeira airport
Leaving the airport, the service window runs 08:30 to 22:00. Anything landing after that last departure arrives to a bus stop with no bus on it, which matters on Madeira because a good share of transatlantic and connecting itineraries put you on the ground in the evening.
In the other direction, toward the airport, the window is 07:00 to 21:00. Note also that the operator runs two sheets: the Sunday and holiday timetable drops several departures the weekday one carries, so a Sunday flight is worth checking against the right column rather than the one you read on arrival.
And one date stands alone: no service on 25 December, printed on the timetable itself. Christmas Day closes more than the bus, incidentally. The Funchal cable car runs every day of the year except that one, and the Monte Palace Tropical Garden is shut on the 25th too, so a Christmas arrival needs a taxi and a plan that involves neither.
How much does the Madeira Aerobus cost?
The straight answer: the fare is not published. The Regional Government’s Aerobus page carries only two PDFs, and the timetable one, the document that gives every stop, every journey time and every departure, gives no price whatsoever. We could not read a fare from a primary source, so we are not putting a number here for you to budget around.
Where to get it: the operator prints a phone number on that same timetable, 291 201 151. Call or ask at the airport counter before you queue, confirm whether cash on board is accepted for your party, and have your hotel desk confirm the return fare a day before you fly out.
Taxis from Madeira airport
We cannot price this ride. No published taxi tariff or ride-hail estimate for the airport run was readable from an official source, and quoting a figure we did not verify would be worse than admitting the gap. Ask at the airport rank, or have your accommodation quote the transfer, and agree the amount for your exact address before the bags go in the trunk.
There are arrivals where the taxi is simply the right call. Four adults with four checked bags and carry-ons do not belong on a stopping bus. A child seat has to be requested when you book, and no bus offers one. A hotel up one of Funchal’s stepped lanes above the seafront is a taxi drop, not a walk from a numbered stop with a suitcase.
The clock decides the rest. With the last airport departure at 22:00, any flight landing later leaves the taxi rank and the rental desks as your options. Book the transfer in advance if your arrival is close to that line, because a delayed inbound flight turns a bus plan into a queue at midnight.
How early to leave Funchal for the airport
The last bus toward the airport goes at 21:00, and the operator does not print a city-center-to-airport time as its own figure. Take the published 50 minutes for the full line as your outer bound, add the walk to your stop, and add whatever the range on the inner stretch (15 to 30 minutes) might cost you at the wrong hour.
That puts a hard edge on evening departures. If your check-in closes at a time the 21:00 bus cannot reach comfortably, the taxi stops being a comfort and becomes the only option, and the same is true in reverse for the very first flights of the day, ahead of the 07:00 start.
Do not schedule a walk for departure day. Since 1 January 2026 every classified trail requires a booking through the SIMplifica portal, at EUR 4.50 per person for the general public, and entry runs in fixed 30-minute slots from sunrise to sunset (about 10 hours 17 minutes of daylight on January 15, against 14 hours 08 minutes on July 15, by sunrise and sunset calculated for Madeira). PR1 alone is 6.1 km and roughly 3 hours, and past the Pedra Rija viewpoint it runs one way only toward Pico Ruivo.
The cable car follows the same logic on a shorter leash: it runs 08:45 to 17:45, so the last cabin down is earlier than most people assume when they buy the EUR 22 return that morning. Ride up to Monte on your first day instead, keep the last morning for the Mercado and a bag stored at the desk, and let the 21:00 bus be a fallback rather than the plan. More Funchal-shaped mornings sit in our three-day plan and the things-to-do guide.
Sources & data for this guide
- Aerobus route, 26 numbered stops, 50 minutes to Praia Formosa, 15 to 30 minutes Praia Formosa to Avenida do Mar (stop 6), named intermediate stops · SIGA Madeira (Regional Government), official Aerobus timetable PDF · checked Sep 13, 2026
- First and last departures (08:30 to 22:00 from the airport, 07:00 to 21:00 toward it), reduced Sunday and holiday sheet, no service on 25 December, stop 9 Terminal SAM marked DESATIVADA · SIGA Madeira official Aerobus timetable · checked Sep 13, 2026
- Fare: not printed. The Aerobus page carries two PDFs and neither gives a price, so none is quoted here · operator number 291 201 151, printed on the timetable · SIGA Madeira · checked Sep 13, 2026
- Taxi and ride-hail prices for the airport run: no tariff we could read from an official source, which is why this guide gives no figure · ask at the airport rank or your accommodation and confirm before departure
- Cable car hours 08:45 to 17:45 daily except Christmas Day, EUR 22 return and EUR 16 one way, e-ticket valid 60 days · Teleférico do Funchal (official) · checked Sep 13, 2026
- Trail access since 1 January 2026: EUR 4.50 general public, mandatory SIMplifica booking, 30-minute slots from sunrise to sunset, PR1 at 6.1 km and about 3 hours, one way past Pedra Rija · Visit Madeira (official tourism board) · checked Sep 13, 2026
- Monte Palace Tropical Garden hours and 25 December closure · Monte Palace Tropical Garden official site · checked Sep 13, 2026
- Daylight length on January 15 and July 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, sunrise and sunset calculated for Madeira · checked Sep 13, 2026