Managua International Airport

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Managua International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional de Managua
IATA: MGA - ICAO: MNMG
Summary
Airport type		Public and military
Serves		Managua
Elevation AMSL		193 ft (59 m)
Coordinates		12°08′29.38″N, 086°10′05.44″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
09/27	8,012	2,442	Compacted Soil

Managua International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Managua) (IATA: MGA, ICAO: MNMG) is the main airport in Managua, Nicaragua. It was formerly called Augusto C. Sandino International Airport during the Sandinista regime in 1980s.

The runway at the airport is 7999 feet long, and has an elevation of 194 feet.

[edit] History

The terminal was inaugurated in 1968 by Anastasio Somoza Debayle under the name of Las Mercedes International Airport. Las Mercedes was designed to be able to be used by Boeing 707 aircraft.

In the early 1970s, Las Mercedes was expanded to more modern standards, with four health inspectors, eight immigration officers and ten customs inspectors. It was fully equipped with air conditioning, background music, loudspeakers and conveyor belts for baggage handling. It also had a restaurant on its upper floor where visitors and travelers could see airport movement

This expanded airport could serve three aircraft at once, and by 1975, Pan Am and Iberia, Lanica Airlines, the Airline of Nicaragua as well as other, smaller local carriers, flew into Las Mercedes.

When the Sandinistas took power, the airport was named after Augusto César Sandino, a Sandinista guerrilla leader. The Sandinistas however did not maintain the airport, and it began to deteriorate, until it was expanded and remodeled in 1996, when, among other things, two new boarding bridges were installed. The airport was renamed "Managua International Airport" in 1990 after the Sandinista defeat that year.

Today, approximately 350 people are employed at Managua International Airport. Airbus A300, A330, Boeing 727, Boeing 737s, Boeing 757s, Boeing 767s and DC-10's can land at the airport.

A large expansion programme was underway by 2003 and as of July 2006 the final phase was completed with 7 gates equipped with jetways. Currently the runway is also undergoing an addition of 800m.

The airport has served for a very long time as a hub for Nicaragua's flag carrier, Nica. When Nica became a member of Grupo TACA during the 1990s, the number of important connections to the rest of Latin America from Managua International Airport grew considerably. A number of major international airlines serve the airport, including American Airlines, Copa, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air Transat and TACA.