Simón Bolívar International Airport (Venezuela)

Simón Bolívar International Airport of Maiquetia Aeropuerto de Maiquetia
IATA: CCS – ICAO: SVMI CCS Location of airport in Venezuela
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		IAAM
Operator		Instituto Autónomo del Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía
Serves		Caracas
Location		Caracas
Hub for		Conviasa
Elevation AMSL		235 ft / 72 m
Coordinates		10°36′11″N 066°59′26″W
Website		http://aeropuerto-maiquetia.com.ve
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
10/28	11,483	3,610	Asphalt
09/27	9,930	3,270	Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Total passengers			10, 430, 243

Simón Bolívar International Airport of Maiquetia (IATA: CCS, ICAO: SVMI) (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetia Simón Bolívar) is an international airport located in Maiquetía, Venezuela, about 13 miles (21 kilometers) from downtown Caracas.

Simply called 'Maiquetia' by the local population, it is the top international air passenger gateway to Venezuela among the twelve international airports in the country. From 1960 to 1997, it was the main hub for VIASA, Venezuela's former flag carrier till the air carrier went bankrupt.

It handles flights to many important cities in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East.

Since 2000, the airport has been undergoing major changes in order to meet international standards and to improve passenger traffic, security, immigration areas, and customs areas. Security measures have become top priority since the 9/11 events, and now departure areas and arrival areas are completely split into the lower and upper levels of the airport. As part of an expansion plan, new international gates are currently in construction, and a section of the parking area has been cleared to build an airport hotel.

Maiquetia airport has two terminals: Domestic (D) and international (I).

Statistics

Movements	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
National	6.208.000	5.796.629	5.277.907	4.863.991	4.559.247	4.621.254	3.781.682	3.547.602
International	4.222.000	4.115.214	3.552.781	3.909.470	4.081.752	3.668.783	3.251.037	3.224.981
Total	10.430.000	9.911.843	8.830.688	8.773.461	8.722.268	8.373.053	7.032.719	6.772.583
Source: IAIM

View of the airport from the Domestic Terminal. A few local airliners can be seen

Terminals, airlines and destinations

Non-stop international destinations as of April 2011

D=Domestic Terminal. I=International Terminal.

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Buenos Aires-Ezeiza	I
Aeroméxico	Mexico City	I
Aeropostal	Barquisimeto, Maracaibo, Maturín, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz	D
Air Canada	Toronto-Pearson	I
Air Europa	Madrid Seasonal: Santiago de Compostela, Tenerife-North	I
Air France	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	I
Albatros Airlines	Carúpano, Los Roques	D
Alitalia	Rome-Fiumicino	I
American Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York-JFK, San Juan	I
Aserca Airlines	Barcelona, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo, Maturín, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz, Santo Domingo	D
Aserca Airlines	Aruba	I
Avianca	Bogotá	I
Avior Airlines	Barcelona, Barinas, Barquisimeto, Maracaibo, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz	D
Avior Airlines	Aruba, Curaçao	I
Caribbean Airlines	Port of Spain	I
Conviasa	Barcelona, Barinas, Cabimas, Canaima, Coro, El Vigía, Las Piedras, Maracaibo, Maturín, Porlamar, Puerto Ayacucho, Puerto Ordaz, Santo Domingo, San Tomé, Valera	D
Conviasa	Bogotá, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Havana	I
Conviasa operated by Orbest	Madrid	I
Copa Airlines	Panama City	I
Copa Airlines Colombia	Bogotá, Medellín-Córdova	I
Cubana de Aviación	Havana	I
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta	I
Dutch Antilles Express	Curaçao (suspended)	I
Estelar Latinoamérica	Maracaibo (begins June 28), Porlamar	D
Gol Airlines operated by Varig	Aruba, Punta Cana, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos	I
Iberia	Madrid	I
Insel Air	Curaçao	I
LAN Airlines	Miami, Santiago de Chile	I
LAN Perú	Lima	I
LASER Airlines	El Vigía, Maracaibo, Porlamar, Santo Domingo	D
LASER Airlines	Aruba Seasonal: Punta Cana	I
Línea Turística Aereotuy	Los Roques	D
Lufthansa	Frankfurt	I
RUTACA Airlines	Barinas, Ciudad Bolívar, Maturin, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz, San Antonio del Táchira, Santo Domingo	D
SBA Airlines	Las Piedras	D
SBA Airlines	Miami, Panama City, Tenerife-North	I
TACA Airlines operated by Lacsa	San José de Costa Rica	I
TACA Perú	Lima	I
TAM Airlines	São Paulo-Guarulhos	I
TAME	Bogotá, Quito	I
TAP Portugal	Funchal, Lisbon, Porto	I
Tiara Air	Aruba	I
United Airlines	Houston-Intercontinental Seasonal: Newark	I
Venezolana	Cumaná, Maracaibo, Maturín, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz, San Antonio del Táchira	D
Venezolana	Aruba, Santo Domingo	I

Cargo airlines

ABSA Cargo Airline ABX Air Amerijet Atlas Air

Centurion Air Cargo Cielos del Peru DHL Aviation Mas Air

LAN Cargo LANCO Star Airways Southern Air

Tampa Cargo Vensecar Internacional Venezolana Servicios Express World Airways

Other facilities

The headquarters of Conviasa is located on the airport grounds.

Notable accidents

• On 27 November 1956, a Linea Aeropostal Flight 253, a Lockheed Constellation, crashed while on final approach to Caracas Airport. All 25 passengers and crew on board were killed.
• On 12 December 1968, Pan Am Flight 217, crashed while on approach to Caracas. All 51 passengers and crew on board were killed.
• On 4 December 1969, Air France Flight 212 crashed shortly after takeoff from Simón Bolívar International Airport. All 62 passengers and crew on board were killed.
• On 16 October 2008 a RUTACA Airlines Boeing 737 went out of the runway while braking for arrival at 3:30 PM. It was flying from San Antonio with 44 people. Fortunately no-one was killed or even injured.

See also

• List of Venezuelan Airlines
• Los Roques Airport – an airport serving Los Roques archipelago national park, remotely controlled from Simón Bolívar International Airport

External links

• Official website
• Airport information for SVMI at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• Accident history for CCS at Aviation Safety Network