aterrizar
verbCEFR B1
What does “aterrizar” mean in English?
to land
to land (of an aircraft); to touch down at an airport
Example sentences
El avión aterrizó con casi tres horas de retraso y, cuando por fin salimos al aeropuerto, ya habían cerrado todos los mostradores de la aerolínea.
The plane landed almost three hours late and, when we finally got into the airport, all the airline desks had already closed.
Cuando aterricemos en Bogotá, lo primero que debemos hacer es buscar el puesto de cambio de moneda porque los cajeros automáticos del aeropuerto cobran comisiones altísimas.
When we land in Bogotá, the first thing we must do is find the currency exchange because the airport ATMs charge very high fees.
How to use it
Aterrizar means 'to land' (of an aircraft or, metaphorically, of a person arriving somewhere). It is intransitive — the plane is the subject and no direct object follows. The noun is aterrizaje (landing). The verb is regular (-ar) but note the spelling: aterrizar keeps the z before -a and -o endings (aterriza, aterrizó), following normal z-to-c spelling rules only before e: aterrice (present subjunctive). Its opposite is despegar (to take off).
Common mistake
Learners sometimes say 'llegar' for both 'to arrive' and 'to land' — llegar is fine for persons, but for aircraft the more precise verb is aterrizar. Airport announcements always use aterrizar; using llegar in a formal travel complaint sounds imprecise.