€6 each way gets you from T1 to Funchal hotels
The Aerobus runs from Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport’s T1 into Funchal and the hotel strip, hitting key stops along the seafront and city centre for about €6 one-way. It’s a coach-style shuttle, not a city bus, so you load luggage in the hold and ride in normal coach seats rather than standing with locals and shopping bags.
First departures usually line up with early arrivals in the morning, and services then run roughly every 1–2 hours until the evening, with a fixed timetable posted at the stop outside the terminal. The run into central Funchal typically takes 30–45 minutes, depending on traffic and how many hotel stops are used on that particular trip.
You pay the driver on board in cash or card (around €6 one-way, about €10–11 return when sold as a round-trip), which is cheaper than a €25–30 taxi for the same airport–Funchal route. The bus stops at well-known hotel zones like Praia Formosa, Lido, and central Funchal, so many people get dropped within a 5–10 minute walk of their bed.
The stop at T1 sits a short walk from arrivals; follow the “Bus” signs, then look for the Aerobus branding and route board with times printed in 24‑hour format. The schedule is the catch: miss a departure by five minutes in off-peak hours and you might wait 45–60 minutes for the next coach.
Because the Aerobus works as a semi‑touristic hotel shuttle, it can feel slow on the last stretch into town; those extra hotel calls can stretch the ride from 30 up to 50 minutes. If time matters more than money, a taxi direct from T1 to a central Funchal hotel usually wins by 10–20 minutes, especially in the evening.
Regulars often ride the Aerobus inbound when landing mid-morning or early afternoon, then book a standard taxi or use local bus lines like 113 or 208 for the airport run if their flight leaves before 8:00 or after the last Aerobus. They’ll sometimes buy the return Aerobus ticket anyway if it lines up with a midday departure to lock in the lower round-trip price.
Practical tip: Before you clear customs, check your actual landing time against the Aerobus timetable on your phone and decide at the belt: if the next coach is more than 40 minutes away, walk straight to the taxi rank instead of waiting it out.