El Alto International Airport

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El Alto International Airport

IATA: LPBICAO: SLLP
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator abertis airports (Abertis)
Location La Paz
Elevation AMSL 13,325 ft / 4,061 m
Coordinates 16°30′48″S 68°11′32″W / 16.51333°S 68.19222°W / -16.51333; -68.19222Coordinates: 16°30′48″S 68°11′32″W / 16.51333°S 68.19222°W / -16.51333; -68.19222
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
10/28 13,123 4,000 Concrete
10L/28R 6,725 2,050 Grass

El Alto International Airport (IATA: LPBICAO: SLLP) is an international airport located in El Alto, near the city of La Paz, Bolivia; it serves national and international air traffic. At an altitude of 4,061 metres (13,323 ft), it is one of the highest international airports in the world. The facility served as a focus city for the former Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, Bolivia's national air carrier, and is a hub for Aerosur, currently the country's largest private airline. El Alto has served as La Paz's airport 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 1969. It has since been overtaken by Santa Cruz de la Sierra's more modern Viru Viru International Airport as Bolivia's most important.

Contents

[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 Abertis/AENA purchased TBI.

[edit] Incidents

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] Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Aerocon Trinidad, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Cobija
Aerosur Cobija, Cochabamba, Cusco, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Sucre, Tarija
Amaszonas Cobija, Rurrenabaque, Trinidad
American Airlines Miami
Boliviana de Aviacion Cochabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Tarija
LAN Airlines Iquique, Santiago de Chile
LAN Perú Lima
Sky Airline Antofagasta, Arica, Santiago de Chile
TACA Peru Lima
TAM - Transporte Aéreo Militar Cobija, Cochabamba, Riberalta, Rurrenabaque, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Tarija

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


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