Dorado Airport
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| Dorado Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: DDP - ICAO: none - FAA: none | |||
| Summary | |||
| Serves | Dorado, Puerto Rico | ||
| Elevation AMSL | ?? ft (?? m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 10/28 | 3,500 | 1,066 | Paved |
- This article is about a Puerto Rican airport; for the airport in Bogotá, D.C., see El Dorado International Airport.
Dorado Airport or Dorado Beach Airport (IATA: DDP) is a small airport in Dorado, Puerto Rico. It has no commercial airline service, and it is widely used by private pilots.
The airport was built by the United States military, as a military air base, in 1942. Clara Livingstone also used the airport as a private landing strip, and there are rumors that her friend, Amelia Earhart, may have used the facility as well.
Much later on, a large airline named Caribair (later overtaken by Eastern Air Lines), began flights there. When Caribair became part of Eastern, flights to Dorado Airport were suspended.
During the early 1980s, Dorado was served by Dorado Wings, a small airline that operated commuter flights between Dorado Airport and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. The airline operated propeller airplanes.
In the early 1990s, the airport was oficially closed. In 1996, the parcel was rezoned and construction commenced of a master planned community: Dorado Beach East. In memory of Dorado airport and its founder, Ms. Clara Livingston, the developers built a children's playground themed with unique play airplanes, a hangar for activities, and a runway plaza. Today, children of all ages and parents of the community enjoy this wonderful private park while remembering and learning the history of Dorado Airport.
