Cuscatlan International Airport

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El Salvador International Airport

IATA: SAL - ICAO: MSLP
Summary
Airport type		Joint (Civil and Military)
Operator		CEPA
Serves		San Salvador
Elevation AMSL		101 ft (31 m)
Coordinates		13°26′27.41″N, 89°03′20.62″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
07/25	10,500	3,200	Asphalt
18/36	2,625	800	Asphalt

El Salvador International Airport (IATA: SAL, ICAO: MSLP), commonly known as Comalapa International Airport or its real name Cuscatlán International Airport, is located about 50 km (30 miles) from San Salvador in El Salvador. It was built in the late 1970s to replace its predecessor, Ilopango International Airport, which is now used for military and charter aviation, but will be rehabilitated as an international airport by 2009. There are also plans to build a new airport on the Salvadoran coast of El Tamarindo, La Union, along with tourist facilities on the beach or near to La Union according to the demand that will be presented by the new modern port.

1 Airport Infrastructure
2 Modernization Project & Expansion
3 Facts
4 Airlines and destinations
5 Cargo airlines
- 5.1 Previous Carriers
6 External links

[edit] Airport Infrastructure

International airport of Comalapa

Comalapa serves as the Main Hub for TACA.

The cargo terminal, located a few meters left of the passenger terminal, handles millions of tons of cargo each year. El Salvador International Airport (or Comalapa International) is located 45 minutes from the city of San Salvador. Excellent roads connect the airport with the city. Many international flights are scheduled every day to all of Central America, North America and South America including some weekly flights to parts of Europe.

When the airport was built it originally had only 7 gates. It was designed to handle around 400,000 passengers a year, but the high increase of passengers in the last 15 years brought the airport to its capacity. The airport has had two main expansions in the last decade or so. In its first phase (named AIES I), the airport grew from 7 boarding gates to 12, and later the second phase AIES II, added 5 more gates bringing the total to 17. Along with new gates, new expanded passenger waiting areas were built. Even though all these expansions have been made, the airport once again has reached the peak of its capacity handling over 2 million passengers on 2006.

Comalapa airport, waiting area

Looking towards the airport from inside a plane

[edit] Modernization Project & Expansion

The government of El Salvador made an agreement with the government of France to study the facilities of the airport in the first semester of 2007. This study is in charge of ADPI, a French company which is a subsidiary of Paris's Charles de Gaulle International Airport. One of the most important things that the Government is planning to do is to create facilities that will separate departing passengers from those arriving. In order to achieve this, the mega-project involves building a raised highway, as a ceiling above the actual terminal, making the upper facility only for departures and the lower for arrivals.

The Master Plan was recently handed to the president of CEPA (autonomous company that administers the airport) which shows all the necessary expansion that the airport will undergo starting in 2009. By the end of that year, the airport will handle 4 million passengers and will expand from 17 gates to 30 gates.

Within the proposed renovation, in its first phase a new terminal will be built, a second runway will be built parallel to the actual one.^{[citation needed]} A new relocated control tower, expanded passenger waiting areas, the cargo terminal and the maintenance facilities (Aeroman) will be relocated and expanded.^{[citation needed]}

Because the airport is not situated within the city, but rather by the Pacific coast surrounded by greenery it has unprecedented space to expand.

The study estimates this overhaul will cost $700 Million, and groundbreaking is set for early 2009 on its first phase which will cost estimate $275 Million.[1]

[edit] Facts

The airport's modern facilities include duty-free shops, fast food and full-service restaurants, bars, air conditioned areas, tourist facilities, car rental, clean bathrooms, and spacious waiting rooms. With space for 17 airplanes on the main terminal, 3 on the cargo terminal, 5 in Aeroman, and around 20 in the "Long Term Parking" which is runway 18/36 plus one of the world's most modern airport radars, 94.5% of the airport's flights are on time (2005 data). The airport and runway have been closed at least twice in the almost quarter century since opening. They were closed for several hours following the devastating earthquake of 2001, followed up with minor repairs to the east end of the runway. They were closed again for several hours in 2005 due to Hurricane Stan. Although the airport is located near the Pacific Ocean, storms and hurricanes are not frequent.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Air Transat (Montreal, Toronto-Pearson) [seasonal]
American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami)
Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
Copa Airlines (Managua, Panama City, San Andres Island [seasonal])
Czech Airlines (Prague) [seasonal][Charter Flights][2]
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
Livingston Energy Flight (Milan-Malpensa) (Starts in July 2008)
Mexicana (Mexico City)
TACA (Belize City, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Guatemala City, Houston-Intercontinental, Lima, Los Angeles, Managua, Mexico City, Miami, New York-JFK, Oakland, Panama City, Roatan, San Andres Island [charter], San Francisco, San Jose (CR), San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, Toronto-Pearson, Washington-Dulles)