Teniente General Benjamín Matienzo International Airport

Teniente General Benjamín Matienzo International Airport (IATA: TUC, ICAO: SANT) is an international airport 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east of the city of San Miguel de Tucumán in Argentina. It serves Tucumán Province in the north of the country. It was built in 1981, and its terminal was inaugurated on 12 October 1986. The airport provides four departure gates, two arrival gates, immigration and passenger services, plus the second largest cargo terminal in Argentina.

For the airport in Panama, see Tocumen International Airport.

Teniente General Benjamín Matienzo International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorGovernment and Aeropuertos Argentina 2000
ServesSan Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina
Elevation AMSL1,495 ft / 456 m
Coordinates26°50′27″S 65°06′17″W
Map
TUC
Location of the airport in Argentina
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
02/20 3,500 11,483 Concrete
Statistics (2017)
Total passengers567,310
Source: SkyVector[1] GCM[2] Google Maps[3] [4]

The airport is named in honor of Benjamín Matienzo, (es)[5][6] who died in the first attempt to fly over the Andes to Chile.

Overview

This airport replaced the old one, located on the Ninth of July Park, because of its location only 650 metres (2,133 ft) from the Plaza Independencia, and the lack of space for expansion, plus noise restrictions and the risks of having an airport in the very city centre. The old airport had one runway of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) and was closed in 1987. Now the Bus Main Station uses parts of the apron of the airport, while the Music School from the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán uses the former passenger terminal.

The Departures Sector was rebuilt in 2005, with international flights facilities and a jet bridge. It can accommodate all kinds of aircraft, such as the Boeing 767, Airbus A330 or Boeing 777.

It has a 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) runway, a 6,985 square metres (75,190 sq ft) terminal, two hangars of 1,840 square metres (19,800 sq ft), and 278 parking places. A freight terminal was constructed in 2013.

In 1988, it handled 710,000 passengers. In 1998, 568,000. And in 2008, just 287,000 passengers. Traffic is growing: 193,000 passengers in 2007; 287,000 in 2008; 365,000 in 2009; 411,000 in 2010; 404,000 in 2011; 445.000 in 2012; 500.906 in 2013; and 523.191 in 2014

On 9 April 2013, the runway designation changed from 01/19 to 02/20 due to magnetic variation. The airport was closed between June and September 2017, when the runway was extended from 2,900 to 3,500 metres (9,500 to 11,500 ft), making it the second longest in Argentina, after Piloto Civil Norberto Fernández International Airport in Río Gallegos.

The Tucuman VOR-DME (Ident: TUC) is located on the field. The Teniente Benjamin Matienzo non-directional beacon (Ident: OU) is located 4.8 nautical miles (9 km) south of the airport.[7][8]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Aerolíneas Argentinas Buenos Aires–Aeroparque, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Córdoba
Austral Líneas Aéreas Buenos Aires-Aeroparque
Seasonal: Mar del Plata
Flybondi Buenos Aires–El Palomar, Rosario[9]
JetSmart Argentina Buenos Aires–El Palomar, Córdoba,[10] Mendoza[11]
LATAM Perú Lima[12]

Cargo

Tucumán is the second busiest airport in Argentina by cargo tonnage, after Buenos Aires-Ezeiza. Most cargo flights are scheduled between September and November, taking fresh fruit to Europe and the United States.

AirlinesDestinations
Atlas Air Miami
Centurion Air Cargo Austin
LAN Cargo Lima, Los Angeles, Miami

Statistics
Traffic by calendar year. Official ORSNA statistics
PassengersChange from previous yearAircraft operationsChange from previous yearCargo
(metric tons)		Change from previous year
2011 404,040 1.71%6,007 2.21%4,937 58,95%
2012 444,893 10.11%5,655 5.86%5,167 4.59%
2013 500,906 12.59%6,099 7.85%3,427 33.64%
2014 523,191 4.45%5,538 9.20%5,950 73.62%
Source: ORSNA (es)

Ground transportation

Tucumán International Airport has direct public transport links to San Miguel de Tucumán served by Bus nº 121 to the Bus Terminal Station, through AV. Avellaneda. Route A016 (continuation from Av. Sarmiento) provides access to the City Center. Taxis and rental cars are available as well, as is the case in most airports.

Accidents and incidents

In 1975, a military C 130 Hercules plane was shot down by terrorists. Later, in 1981, Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 901 crashed in a river near Buenos Aires, en route from Tucumán, killing all 31 on board.

See also

References
  1. "Tucuman Airport". SkyVector. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  2. Airport information for Teniente General Benjamín Matienzo International Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
  3. "Teniente Benjamin Matienzo Airport". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  4. En vivo desde TUC [@aeropuertotuc] (19 August 2017). "IMPRESIONANTE: Con ustedes, la nueva pista de aterrizaje de Tucumán. Con sus 3.500 metros de largo, es ahora la más…" (Tweet) – via Twitter. (in Spanish)
  5. "Benjamín Matienzo". Archivo Histórico (in Spanish). Archivo Histórico de la Provincia de Tucumán. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  6. "Teniente Benjamín Matienzo". Early Aviators. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  7. "Teniente Benjamin Matienzo NDB". Our Airports. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  8. "Tucuman VOR". Our Airports. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  9. "Flybondi lanza siete nuevas rutas y llega a Rosario" (Press release) (in Spanish).
  10. "JetSMART Argentina lanza nueva ruta: Córdoba-Tucumán". www.aviacionline.com (in Spanish).
  11. "Sí, JetSMART lanza otra ruta en Argentina: Mendoza-Tucumán". www.aviacionline.com (in Spanish).
  12. "LATAM volará desde Santiago a Tucumán, San Juan y Neuquén, ofreciendo la mayor conectividad entre Chile y Argentina". www.Desdescl.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 December 2017.
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