El Alto International Airport
| El Alto International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto |
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IATA: LPB – ICAO: SLLP
 LPB
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||
| Operator | Abertis Airports | ||
| Serves | La Paz, Bolivia | ||
| Location | El Alto, Bolivia | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,061.5 m / 13,325 ft | ||
| Coordinates | 16°30′48″S 068°11′32″W / 16.51333°S 68.19222°W | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 10R/28L | 4,000 | 13,123 | Asphalt |
| 10L/28R | 2,050 | 6,725 | Grass |
| Statistics (2006) | |||
| Passengers | 833,212 | ||
| Source: SABSA[1], Airport Statistics[2] | |||
El Alto International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto) (IATA: LPB, ICAO: SLLP) is an international airport located 8 mi (13 km) south west of La Paz,[3] La Paz Department, Bolivia.
The airport is located in the city of El Alto[4] and has served since the first half of the 20th century, but was modernized in the late 1960s, when its runway was lengthened and a new passenger terminal with modern facilities was built. The new airport, called "John F. Kennedy" but still referred to as El Alto (as it has been known for several decades), was inaugurated in 1965.[5] El Alto airport was a primary hub for the former Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, Bolivia's flag carrier which ceased operations in 2007 and is a hub for Transporte Aéreo Militar.[6] It serves also as a focus city for AeroSur, currently the country's largest private airline and Boliviana de Aviación which is a state owned airline.[7]
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[edit] History
The Bolivian territory is characterized by extremely eventful relief. These topographic aberrations, which include a variety of environments such as rugged mountains, high plateaus, low valleys and tropical forests, as well as the country's large size, had a negative effect on national transportation, making communication difficult between elevated and low cities along with isolated tropical towns. What finally overcame the geographical difficulties was aviation. This source of communication was very effective since some populations, in most cases, depend exclusively on the air transport for being able to communicate.
The Bolivian air transport started in 1916, when the Military school of Aviation (Spanish: Escuela Militar de Aviación) was formed in La Paz. In 1929 the local government made a project for the construction of the airport. However it was officially inaugurated in the 1960s. In 1974 the airport proceeded to a reconstruction. A new terminal was built and its facilities were enlarged and modernized.[8] Until 1999 the airport took John F. Kennedy (JFK) as the official name although in practice this name was never used in a public way. In that year, before the pressure of different sectors, by means of the Law 1944 during the government of Hugo Banzer Suárez the airport changed its name officially to El Alto International Airport as a de facto name up to that moment.
[edit] Modernization
In 2006, SABSA (Spanish: Servicios Aeroportuarios Bolivianos S.A.) invested nearly 2.3 million dollars in the reconstruciton of the main terminal.[9] The new terminal consists of the enlargement, reshaping and construction of the baggage claim room, the check-in area and the corridor to the air bridges. The administrative offices of AASANA as well as the main hall and the international area were completely modernized.[10]
[edit] Operators
On March 1, 1997, the Government of Bolivia entered into a 25-year contract with Airport Group International to operate the three largest airports in Bolivia – El Alto Airport in La Paz, Jorge Wilstermann Airport in Cochabamba and Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz. Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos Sociedad Anonima (SABSA) was created to operate the concession. In 1999 Airport Group International was purchased by TBI plc and, in 2004, Spain's first Abertis/AENA purchased TBI.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aerocon | Cobija, Trinidad |
| Aerosur | Arequipa (begins February 2012)[11], Cobija, Cochabamba, Cuzco, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Sucre, Tarija |
| Amaszonas | Cobija, Rurrenabaque, Trinidad, Uyuni |
| American Airlines | Miami |
| Avianca | Bogota, Washington |
| Boliviana de Aviación | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Sucre, Tarija |
| LAN Airlines | Iquique, Santiago de Chile |
| LAN Perú | Lima |
| Sky Airline | Antofagasta, Arica, Santiago de Chile |
| TACA Perú | Lima |
| TAM - Transporte Aéreo Militar | Cobija, Cochabamba, Riberalta, Rurrenabaque, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Tarija, Uyuni |
[edit] Accidents and incidents
- On 14 July 1970, Douglas DC-3 TAM-17 of TAM - Transporte Aéreo Militar was damaged beyond repair in an accident.[12]
- On 4 May 1971, Douglas C-47 TAM-22 of TAM - Transporte Aéreo Militar crashed shortly after take-off on a cargo flight to El Jovi Airport.[13]
- On 17 September 1972, Douglas C-47A CP-565 of Aerolíneas Abaroa crashed on take-off. The aircraft was operating a non-scheduled passenge flight. All four people on board survived.[14]
- On November 25, 1976, Douglas C-47 CP-755 of Aerolíneas La Paz was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident. The aircraft was on a cargo flight, all four people on board survived.[15]
- On January 1, 1985, Eastern Air Lines Flight 980, due to land at El Alto, from Paraguay to Miami, with a stop at El Alto, crashed into the side of mount Illimani, killing all 29 people on board the Boeing 727
- On March 8, 2006, a Learjet aircraft belonging to Argentina's military crashed just minutes after taking off from El Alto on its way to Viru Viru International Airport, killing all six people on board.
[edit] See also
- Qamdo Bangda Airport, the highest commercial airport in the world, at 4,334 m (14,219 ft)
- Extreme points of Earth
- List of airports in Bolivia
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.sabsa.aero/aeropuerto-el-alto
- ^ http://www.sabsa.aero/aeropuerto-el-alto/estadisticas.aspx
- ^ http://www.wordtravels.com/Airports/Bolivia/La+Paz+Airport
- ^ http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.in/time-zone/south-america/bolivia/el-alto/index.htm El Alto has La Paz's International Airport.
- ^ (Spanish) http://guiasobrevuelos.com/2010/10/07/aeropuerto-el-alto-de-la-paz-bolivia/
- ^ Transporte Aéreo Militar - TAM. Hub: La Paz www.ch-aviation.ch
- ^ AeroSur's hub is located in Santa Cruz de la Sierra while Cochabamba is the hub of BoA (Boliviana de Aviación). http://www.ovguide.com/boliviana-de-aviacion-9202a8c04000641f8000000006bd7f96
- ^ http://www.gobernacionlapaz.gob.bo:8001/simit/sistema/ficha_turistica/fichaturistica.php?atr_id=254
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.mirabolivia.com/foro_total.php?id_foro_ini=51639 Con una inversión de 2,3 millones de dólares
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.mirabolivia.com/foro_total.php?id_foro_ini=51639
- ^ http://www.tnews.com.pe/not_am/aerosur-volara-la-paz-arequipa-desde-febrero.htm
- ^ "TAM-17 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19700714-0. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ "TAM-22 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19710504-0. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ^ "CP-565 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19720917-0. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ "CP-755 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19761123-3. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
