Dorado Airport

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Coordinates: 18°27′52″N 066°17′33″W / 18.46444, -66.2925

Dorado Airport
IATA: DDP – ICAO: none – FAA: none
Summary
Location Dorado, Puerto Rico
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
10/28 3,500 1,066 Paved
Sources: IATA[1], coordinates[2], runway[3]
For the airport in Bogotá, Colombia, see El Dorado International Airport.

Dorado Airport or Dorado Beach Airport (IATA: DDP)[1] was a small airport in Dorado, Puerto Rico. It had one runway which was located at geographical coordinates 18°27′52″N 66°17′33″W / 18.4644, -66.2925[2].

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.[3]

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 officially 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Great Circle Mapper: DDP - Dorado, Puerto Rico (Dorado Beach Airport)
  2. ^ a b TopoZone: Dorado Airport
  3. ^ a b Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Eastern Puerto Rico: Dorado

[edit] External links