Quetzaltenango Airport

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Quetzaltenango Airport
IATA: AAZ - ICAO: MGQZ
Summary
Airport type Joint
Operator Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil
Serves Quetzaltenango
Elevation AMSL 7779 ft (2371 m)
Coordinates 14°51′55.98″N, 91°30′07.13″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05/23 6900 2103 Asphalt

Quetzaltenango Airport (IATA: AAZ, ICAO: MGQZ) (Aeropuerto de Quetzaltenango, or Aeropuerto de Xelajú) serves the city of Quetzaltenango also known as "Xelajú" or "Xela" and western Guatemala. It is operated and administrated by DGAC - Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil de Guatemala.

Contents

[edit] General

Quetzaltenango Airport is located in the Guatemalan highlands, in the northeastern part of the city of Quetzaltenango. The airport is currently undergoing massive construction works, as part of a nationwide airport rehabilitation program [1]. Serving Guatemalas second largest city, AAZ aims to gain international status, along with La Aurora International Airport and Mundo Maya International Airport. The whole region hopes to profit economically from this new airport. So far, the next airport to Quetzaltenango with regular airline connections was 200 km away, in Guatemala City. Until 2006 the airfield in "Xela" only consisted of a grass/gravel runway. It had no significant terminal building and only a small hangar. Air traffic was very limited due to many missing essential features for a safe and unobstructed operation. In September 2006 construction works began [2], which include [3]:

  • extension, asphalting, signposting and illuminating of the runway and taxiway
  • construction of a small terminal building and apron for four planes
  • construction of a parking area

An emergency operations center has been installed at the airport in order to respond faster to disasters like hurricane Stan in the future [4]. The new runway was inaugurated by president Oscar Berger on January 10, 2008. The terminal is still under construction.

[edit] Criticism

  • It was found out that, when Oscar Berger inaugurated the runway in January 2008, construction works had not been finished. The markings on the runway were faked for the official opening ceremony and had to be removed again for final coating.[2],[3]

[edit] Aviation in Quetzaltenango

  • The first airport was built in 1945 at La Esperanza and was transferred to the present site in 1955. Aviateca had daily flghts between Xela and Guatemala City, charging 25 Q those days.[[4]]
  • In 1999 Miguel Angel Castro Conde constructed a two seater aircraft in Quetzaltenango, naming it "Quetzaltenango 1". It is said that it is the first and only ever built airplane in Central America [5], [6].

[edit] Coatepeque Airport

In the same department of Quetzaltenango, another smaller airport has been modernized in Coatepeque with a small terminal and a runway of about 959 meters [7].

[edit] Airlines

Quetzaltenango hopes to attract international flight connections in the future. But there is still no information about potential routes or airlines.

[edit] Previous carriers and destinations

  • Inter Regional, a regional subsidiary of Grupo TACA in Guatemala, offered scheduled flights to Guatemala City between 1999 and 2002, using Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft [9]. There were two daily flights (TA 1932, TA 1918). Flying time to Guatemala City was scheduled with 40 minutes.

[edit] Incidents

On 1 November, 1998 a Douglas DC-3 (N3FY) carrying 18 crew and passengers crashed near the airport into mountainous terrain. Bad weather during approach is the probable cause. There were 11 fatalities. [10]

On 13 October, 1999 a private Bell 206 helicopter (TG-AMA) crashed near Quetzaltenango. Both occupants were killed [11].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ (Spanish) PrensaLibre.com - Quieren ampliar operaciones aéreas
  2. ^ (Spanish) PrensaLibre.com - Inicia construcción de aeropuerto de Quetzaltenango
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ COE instala bodega en aeropuerto de Quetzaltenango :: CERIGUA Centro de reportes informativos sobre Guatemala :: Democratizando las comunicaciones
  5. ^ (Spanish) Revista D - PrensaLibre.com
  6. ^ Untitled Document
  7. ^ (Spanish) PrensaLibre.com - Red aeroportuaria, lista para fin de año
  8. ^ Trasnportes Aereos Guatemaltecos
  9. ^ TACA REGIONAL ARILINES | INTER - Schedules & Fares
  10. ^ ASN Aircraft accident description Douglas C-47A-90-DL (DC-3C) N3FY - Quetzaltenango
  11. ^ FTW00RA156

[edit] External links

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