Ilopango International Airport is an airport located on the eastern part of the city of

San Salvador, El Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital ...

, once serving the city as its international airport until it was replaced by the larger and more modern

El Salvador International Airport El Salvador International Airport Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional de El Salvador San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez), , previously known as Comalapa International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional d ...

, located about 50 km south of the city. Currently, Ilopango is used for military,

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, and charter aviation only. It also holds the annual Ilopango Air Show. The airport is also home to the National Aviation Museum (''Museo Nacional de Aviación'') of San Salvador, which is housed in the old terminal building.

History

Ilopango was one of the largest and busiest airports in Central America. During the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, due to its location, it was targeted for bombing by guerrillas. It ended its international flight service in January 1980, with the construction of the larger, more modern Comalapa International. It played a role in the Iran-Contra affair when it was used by the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over ...

's dummy corporations to fly funding and arms to the

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...

rebels in the Nicaraguan Civil War. Currently, there is a plan involving modernization and enlargement of the airport to accommodate modern aircraft. In 2001, the administration of the airport passed from the military to the Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma (CEPA), which is in charge of planning the modernization project
Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma CEPA El Salvador CEPA; Institución salvadoreña de carácter autónomo que provee servicios de logística por medio de la administración de aeropuertos, puertos y ferrocarriles en El Salvador.

Rehabilitation

Ilopango has the same problem of many airports in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

: it borders on the city and has houses nearby so its runway can't be expanded. Its hangars will be relocated and modernized to serve as a modern commercial airport. CEPA has announced that they will begin rehabilitating the airport in late 2013 to allow short domestic flights within

. Ilopango Airport has new signage on the main runway, and a revamped passenger room, as part of preparations being made for new airlines that will begin operating in May 2014. The President of the Civil Aviation Authority (AAC) has reported that a resurfacing of the airport's taxiway will be underway before initial operations of TAES Airlines in February 2015 and

TAG Airlines TAG Airlines was a small airline serving primarily Downtown Cleveland, Ohio with Downtown Detroit, Michigan from 1957 until 1970. History It was founded by William Knight in Cleveland, Ohio as Taxi Air Group in , was then sold to Ross Miller, ...

in March 2015.

Volaris Volaris, legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.P.I. de C.V.'', is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City l-888-Ʒ9Ʒ-I394 with its hubs in Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Tijuana, and focu ...

is in the process of getting government approval to fly between

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and San Salvador Among the work completed in the old airport: adequacy of the passenger waiting room, which seats 25 people is completed. In addition to adequate seating for passengers, a new air conditioning system for traveler comfort. These facilities are slated to open in March 2015, when TAG Airlines begins operations at Ilopango Airport. In January 2016, CEPA has begun building a new passenger terminal due to the high demands of TAG Airlines and

CM Airlines CM Airlines is a domestic airline in Honduras. According to the airline "CM" stands for "Cielo Maya" (Mayan sky). Destinations Fleet *Saab 340 (4) *Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (7) *Let 410 (3) References CM Airlines
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. The new passenger terminal will increase capacity while providing a dedicated Salvadorean immigration and customs area. The new MSSS Ilopango Airport terminal is expected to be completed in mid-2016.

Other facilities

The El Salvador Civil Aviation Authority has its headquarters on the airport property.Home
Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved on January 5, 2013. "Km 9 1/2 Boulevard del Ejercito Nacional, Aeropuerto Ilopango, El Salvador"

Airlines and destinations

Passenger airlines

Some airlines that served Ilopango in the past

Aviateca Aviateca S.A. branded Avianca Guatemala is a regional airline headquartered in Guatemala City. Aviateca was under government ownership and remained so until 1989 when it joined the Grupo TACA alliance of Central America and was privatized. It ...

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Lacsa Avianca Costa Rica S.A., formerly known as LACSA (''Spanish: Lineas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A.''), minority owned by the Synergy Group, is the national airline of Costa Rica and is based in San José. It operates international scheduled servic ...

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Copa Airlines Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., (commonly referred to as Copa and branded simply as "Copa Airlines") is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa i ...

(

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, Guatemala, Managua, San José, Cartagena, Barranquilla) * SAM ( San Andres Island) *

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via

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LANICA Líneas Aéreas de Nicaragua, operating as LANICA, was an airline from Nicaragua. Headquartered in the capital Managua, it operated scheduled passenger flights within South and Central America, as well as to the United States. History The ...

(

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

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Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

( New York, Houston-Intercontinental,

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, Guatemala) *

Sahsa ''Servicio Aéreo de Honduras S.A.'' otherwise known as SAHSA Airlines was the national flag carrier airline of Honduras from October 22, 1945, to January 14, 1994. The airline was a subsidiary of Pan American Airways and merged with ''Transpor ...

(Tegucigalpa)

References

External links

Museo Nacional de Aviación
{{authority control Airports in El Salvador San Salvador