The practical part
The essentials
Check the last bus to your base before you fly
Open the airport board, pick your base and the day you land, and read the last departure of the day. In the south the 711 fills the gap after the last line 40 and keeps going into the small hours; in the north the last 30 to Puerto de la Cruz and the last 20 to La Laguna and Santa Cruz are the last buses, full stop. The small-hours trips after a late landing sit at the end of the evening's tab, not on the next day's: on a Friday-night landing, stay on Friday's tab and read past the evening rows. Count from the moment you have your bags, not from touchdown: passport control and the baggage belt come first.
Landing late: where the stop is
At TFS the TITSA stop Aena describes is in the terminal on floor 0, arrivals, and that is where line 40 and line 10 leave; the night line 711 towards Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje is the exception: TITSA’s own page says it stops at the Departures terminal at Tenerife South, so after the last 40 go up to Departures, not to the arrivals stop. Line 10 uses two stops, one to set down and one to pick up, both named on its page. At TFN the stop is on floor −1 in the bus parking area. Both airports are described on Aena’s bus pages, which this site reads.
Checked Aena: Tenerife South Airport bus accessAena: Tenerife North Airport bus access TITSA lines 10, 711
Flying early: the first bus and a margin
Read the first departure towards the airport on the tab for your day; on Sundays and holidays it is later. Allow for the ride plus the walk to the terminal rather than planning to the minute, and remember TITSA’s rule on line 40 in the other direction: towards Costa Adeje it does not pick up at intermediate stops unless someone alights.
Pay at night as by day
TITSA buses take bank cards and cash on board at any hour; a ten+ Day Travelcard from the airport machines also covers the night line. Keep the ticket for the whole ride.
Checked TITSA: Tickets and fares
Which bases have a night bus?
Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos and Santa Cruz, on line 711 via Tenerife South. Puerto de la Cruz and La Laguna do not have a night bus from their airport; the night line 104 passes between Santa Cruz, La Laguna and Puerto de la Cruz with some trips marked as calling at TFN, a mark this site has not snapshotted and therefore does not print.
Plan B: taxi or transfer
This site has no verified transfer partner for Tenerife yet and so recommends none. If you book one, take your hotel’s or a named company with a fixed price, and give the flight number so a delay is covered. Taxis wait at both terminals; Aena’s pages describe where. Agree nothing by the kerb that is not on the meter.
Checked Aena: Tenerife South Airport bus accessAena: Tenerife North Airport bus access
The two airports are not interchangeable
A late landing at Tenerife North with a hotel in Costa Adeje is a long way by bus: line 343 links the airports by day only, and the south-bound options from Santa Cruz are the 10 and the 711. Check which airport your flight uses before deciding whether the bus is a plan at all.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask
Is there a night bus from Tenerife South Airport?
Yes: line 711 runs through the night between Santa Cruz, Tenerife South Airport, Los Cristianos and Estación Costa Adeje, every day. The airport board on this site lists its departures with line 40’s so the next bus is one list.
Checked TITSA: Line 711 timetable
Is there a night bus from Tenerife North Airport?
Not one this site can print. Lines 20 and 30 stop for the night; TITSA marks some night line 104 trips as serving TFN, but that line is not in the snapshot set, so the honest answer for a late northern landing is a taxi or transfer.
How early is the first bus to the airport?
It depends on the day: the boards on the airport page and on each base’s destination page print the first departure for weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays-and-holidays. Read the tab for your travel day, not today’s.
The other half of the plan
And the way back.
For the flight home, read the first departure towards your airport on the board for your travel day the night before, and be at the stop for the one before the one you need.
