Las Américas International Airport
Las Américas International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas, or AILA) (IATA: SDQ, ICAO: MDSD) is an international airport located in Punta Caucedo, near Santo Domingo and Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. The airport is run by Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI (AERODOM), a private corporation based in the Dominican Republic under a 25-year concession to build, operate, and transfer (BOT) six of the country's airports. Las Américas usually receives a wide variety of long-, mid- and short-haul aircraft.
Las Américas International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Civil aviation | ||||||||||
| Owner | Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI S.A. | ||||||||||
| Serves | Greater Santo Domingo | ||||||||||
| Location | Punta Caucedo, Dominican Republic | ||||||||||
| Hub for | Sky High Aviation Services | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 58 ft / 18 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 18°25′46″N 069°40′08″W | ||||||||||
| Website | https://www.aeropuertolasamericas.com/?q=en | ||||||||||
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  MDSD Location of airport in Dominican Republic | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2019) | |||||||||||
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The airport is the second-busiest in the country, after Punta Cana International Airport, and one of the largest in the Caribbean, handling 3.5 million passengers in 2015 through its air terminal.[1] And is also the busiest cargo hub in the Caribbean and Central America with 355,000,000 lbs of cargo transported in 2019
History
Las Américas Airport opened in 1959 as the official airport of Santo Domingo. The official name of the airport was changed in 2002 to "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas- José Francisco Peña Gómez (AIJFPG)" but is most commonly referred to as "Las Américas International Airport", or locally, "Las Américas Airport" or "El Aeropuerto".
Up until January 2020, the airport operates on private land which hasn't been paid to the original owners, the current administration has been plague with multiple lawsuits, with the lower courts siding with the land owners, the case is currently in the Supreme Court
On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 that was flying to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, crashed, killing all 102 persons on board (see: Dominicana DC-9 air disaster).
Las Américas was the hub for Dominicana de Aviación, APA Dominicana International, Air Santo Domingo, PAWA Dominicana, and a number of other, smaller airlines. Currently SAP Air is based there.
Las Américas also has served as a hub for airlines such as Aeromar Líneas Aéreas Dominicanas, Air Santo Domingo, Aero Continente Dominicana and Queen Air.
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Recently, the expressway leading from Santo Domingo to the airport (roughly 20 km east of the city center) was expanded and modernised. The airport was also modernised, and two more terminals were added, including 20 more gates. The new expressway crosses a new suspension bridge which spans the Ozama River, connecting traffic into the city's Elevated Freeway and Tunnel system onto the city's main street, Av. 27 de Febrero. A more scenic route following the coastal shore provides beautiful views of the Caribbean Sea and of the city. This secondary road crosses the Ozama River by means of a floating bridge, connecting traffic onto the Av. George Washington (el Malecón) which leads into the heart of the colonial city.
Addition of northern terminal
On 18 April 2007, a new terminal was completed and opened for operations. It can accommodate four Boeing 747s simultaneously. This new terminal has four gates with boarding bridges, an air-conditioning system, and maintenance facilities for aircraft.
Runway
Las Américas Airport's runway direction is north–south (designated 17–35). This runway is the largest in the country, and one of the largest in the Caribbean. With a length of 3,355 m, it is able to support a Boeing 747. The runway of SDQ was last renovated in June 2008. The old taxi-way was also renovated and converted into a full runway while the old runway was being renovated, then it was converted back into a taxiway after the normal runway was finished. The runway accommodated the Antonov An-225 to supply goods after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[2][3]
Concourses
Las Américas has five gates on the main satellite concourse (A), A2 through A6. Other gate facilities are for the flights departing from a parking in the taxiway. back in the 1960s and 70s the airport used to be much smaller, The original building was half the size of today's newest structure but with a still modern look.
Concourse B has four gates (B1 through B4) and remote stand (P8). Terminal B now features a co-branded Copa Club operated jointly by United Airlines and Copa Airlines, and a Private Lounge exclusive to members and business people.
The average number of daily flights in and out of Las Américas ranges between 68 and 84 flights. JetBlue is the largest airline operating at Las Américas.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
- Notes
- ^1 Air Caraïbes's flights incoming from Paris-Orly fly via Port-au-Prince, however the return flight from Santo Domingo to Paris-Orly is nonstop.
- ^2 Air France's flights incoming from Paris–CDG fly via Punta Cana to Santo Domingo, however the return flight from Santo Domingo to Paris–CDG is nonstop, during the Winter Season, both legs are nonstop.
- ^3 Blue Panorama's flights from Milan-Malpensa to Santo Domingo are nonstop, however, the flights from Santo Domingo to Milan-Malpensa fly via Antigua.
- ^4 Condor flies to San José via Santo Domingo and has Fifth Freedom Rights to sell tickets between Santo Domingo and San José.
- ^5 TUI fly Belgium's flights to Brussels fly via Puerto Plata and Punta Cana, however, the flights from Brussels to Santo Domingo are nonstop.
Cargo
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Amerijet International | San Juan, Miami, Port-Au-Prince |
| Avianca Cargo | Bogota, Medellin |
| UPS Airlines | Miami, Louisville |
| FedEx | Miami, Memphis |
Statistics
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Accidents and incidents
- On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 flying to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, crashed, killing all 102 people on board (see: Dominicana DC-9 air disaster).
- On 30 January 1975, Douglas DC-3 HI-222 of LANSA crashed on take-off, killing one of the 30 people on board. The aircraft was on an international scheduled passenger flight to Mais Gate Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.[11]
See also
References
- "BCRD - Estadísticas Económicas". www.bancentral.gov.do. Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
- "Antonov-225 Delivered Humanitarian Aids to Japan". 2011-03-25. Archived from the original on 2018-04-01. Retrieved 2016-12-08.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- "AN-225 Mriya / Super Heavy Transport". Archived from the original on 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2016-12-08.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- "Safety Precautions: COVID-19". Aeroméxico. June 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- "Copa Airlines plans to resume its flights". Nicolás Larenas (in Spanish). May 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- Cubana cancela vuelos al Caribe por restricciones de EEUU a terceros, Aero Latin News, 24 October 2019, retrieved 2019-10-24
- "Frontier adding 18 nonstop routes, including new flights to Caribbean, El Salvador and Guatemala". USA Today. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- "Flight Search". pegasys.pegast.ru. 4 September 2018.
- Liu, Jim. "Sunrise Airways expands Dominican Republic service in 1H20". Routesonline. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- [http://www.jac.gob.do/transparencia/index.php/estadisticas/category/521-4to-trimestre Archived 2019-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
- "HI-222 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
External links
- Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas-JFPG
- Airport information for MDSD at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.