It has been called Funchal Airport, Santa Catarina Airport, Madeira Airport and, more recently, Madeira Airport – Cristiano Ronaldo. It was exactly 60 years ago that the runway located in Santa Cruz was inaugurated, with pomp and circumstance, by the then President of the Republic, Américo Thomaz.
The date was seen as a historic day for Madeira, which until then had only been accessible by seaplane or boat. The Porto Santo runway had been opened in 1960, but this meant a long and uncomfortable boat crossing to Madeira.
The first plane was scheduled to land at 11:30 a.m. Before that, the President of the Republic would arrive by boat at the Pontinha jetty, as the first plane would only arrive later. The DIÁRIO reported that this work had begun on 5 June 1961, with the demolition of a house on the land that would be used to build the runway.