Las Américas International Airport
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| Las Américas International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: SDQ - ICAO: MDSD | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI S.A. (Aerodom) | ||
| Serves | Santo Domingo | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 59 ft (18 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 17/35 | 11,000 | 3,353 | Asphalt |
Las Américas International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas-JFPG) (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 AeroDom, the Dominican Airport Modernisation Secretariat.
Recently, the expressway leading from Santo Domingo to the airport (roughly 20 km east of the city center) was expanded and modernised. 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.
The airport is the largest in the Dominican Republic and one of the largest in the Caribbean.
Las Américas International Airport can receive airplanes up to the size of Boeing 747 and Airbus A340s. Aerolíneas Argentinas, Dominicana de Aviacion and Iberia are among the airlines that have flown 747 airplanes into SDQ. Iberia occasionally flies A340s there.
The official name of the airport was changed in 2002 to "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Americas- José Francisco Peña Gómez (AIJFPG)" but is most commonly referred to as "Las Americas International Airport", or locally, "Las Americas".
On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación's 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).
Frequent flights are received from Barajas International Airport in Madrid, Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, JFK International Airport in New York City, Miami International Airport in Miami, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (the world's largest passenger hub) in Atlanta, and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
Las Américas was the hub for Dominicana, APA Dominicana International, and a number of other, smaller airlines. Currently, no airlines use Las Américas a hub.
Las Americas has 6 gates on the main satellite concourse (A), A1 through A6, which have a shared use. In the same concourse there is an American Eagle gate, A7. Other gates facilities are for the flights departing from a parking in the taxiway.
American Airlines is the major airline operating in Las Americas. It has 3 daily flights to New York (inbound / outbound), 6 flights to San Juan, and 4 to Miami. Delta has one daily flight to / from JFK and a daily flight to/from Atlanta, Iberia has a daily flight from Madrid and Spirit Airlines has a daily one from Fort Lauderdale. Continental has during the week 1 daily flight to / from EWR and two on Sundays. US Airways has a flight on Saturday to / from Philadelphia. AirFrance also operates nonstop service to their Paris Orly-Charles De Gaulle (CDG) hub several times each week.
The new Northern terminal:
This new terminal will be completed in April 2006. It will be the most modern terminal in the country and one of the best in the Caribbean, featuring free wireless Internet, electric escalators, elevators, jet bridges. It will be able to accommodate six 747 Jumbo Boeing simultaneously, including the Airbus A380. At a cost of more than a 100 million dollars, this terminal is expected to turn Santo domingo Airport into one of the busiest airports in Latin America.
[edit] Airlines and Destinations
- Aerocaribbean (Santiago de Cuba)
- Aeropostal (Caracas)
- Air Canada (Montreal, Toronto-Pearson)
- Air Caraibes (Fort-de-France, Havana, Pointe-à-Pitre)
- Air Europa (Madrid)
- Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
- Air Plus Comet (Madrid)
- American Airlines (Boston, Miami, New York-JFK, San Juan)
- American Eagle (San Juan, St. Maarten)
- Aserca Airlines (Caracas, Punta Cana)
- Avianca (Bogota) [2006]
- Avior Airlines (Caracas) [2006]
- Bahamasair (Nassau)
- Caribbean Sun Airlines (San Juan)
- Condor Airlines (Frankfurt, San Jose (CR))
- Continental Airlines (Newark)
- Copa Airlines (Panama City)
- Cubana de Aviación (Havana)
- Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, New York-JFK)
- Fisher Air (Warsaw)
- Iberia (Madrid)
- Leeward Islands Air Transport (Antigua)
- Livingston (Milan-Malpensa)
- LTU International (Munich)
- TACA (San Jose (CR)) effective nov 2006
- US Airways (Philadelphia) Saturdays only
- Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale)
- Skyservice (Toronto-Pearson)
- Sunwing Airlines (Toronto-Pearson)
- Westjet (Montreal)
