Mariscal Lamar International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Lamar) is a high elevation airport serving
Cuenca, the capital of the
Azuay Province in
Ecuador. It is named after the
Peruvian military leader and politician
José de la Mar, a native of Cuenca.
Facilities
Since 2002 the
Instrument landing system (ILS) for the airport is fully operational.
The Cuenca
non-directional beacon(Ident: CUR) is located off the approach threshold of Runway 23. The Cuenca
VOR-DME (Ident: CUV) is located off the same runway.
The airport is in a high elevation basin within the Ecuadorian
Andes, with mountainous terrain in all quadrants.
Despite improvements, the location of the airport in the middle of the city is a major handicap, as the runway is only barely long enough for large planes landing at this altitude. This has resulted in accidents involving planes running off the end of the runway, and a restriction on flights in wet weather during much of 2016. The airport has completed a runway resurfacing to improve traction in wet weather.
Airlines and destinations
Incidents
* On 20 October 1971, a
Vickers Viscount of
SAETA
SAETA Air Ecuador (legally ''Sociedad Anónima Ecuatoriana de Transportes Aéreos S.A.'') was a privately held airline of Ecuador, which was founded in 1966. During its heyday in the 1990s, it flew to numerous destinations in North and South Ame ...
was hijacked by six people. It landed at Cuenca Airport.
* On 8 October 1982, Vickers Viscount HC-ATV of
SAN Ecuador
SAN (legally ''Servicios Aéreos Nacionales S.A.'') was an airline which was based in Guayaquil, Ecuador that was the domestic branch of the airline SAETA. It was founded in 1964, and ceased operations in 1999.
History
SAN was founded on Janu ...
was damaged beyond economic repair.
* On 11 July 1983, a
Boeing 737 operating a
TAME flight from Quito to Cuenca,
crashed killing all 117 on board on final approach to the airport.
* On 28 April 2016, an
Embraer E190
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.
The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding ...
, operating a TAME flight from Quito to Cuenca, slid off the end of the runway. No injuries or deaths were reported, but flight operations were limited afterwards as the
Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Ecuador prohibited aircraft from landing if the runway was wet. This led to runway resurfacing work, completed in late 2016.
See also
*
Transport in Ecuador
Transportation in Ecuador can be summarized in the following areas: aviation, highways, pipelines, ports and harbors, railways, and waterways. Apart from transporting passengers, the country is a relatively small exporter of, alongside fruits and ...
*
List of airports in Ecuador
This is a list of airports in Ecuador, sorted by location.
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Airports
Airport names shown in bold indicate the airport has scheduled service on commercial airlines.
See also
* Ecuadorian Air Force (''Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana'')
* ...
References
External links
OpenStreetMap - CuencaSkyVector - Cuenca
*
*
Official site of the airport
{{authority control
Airports in Ecuador
Buildings and structures in Azuay Province
Cuenca, Ecuador