Mariscal Lamar International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Lamar) is a high elevation airport serving Cuenca, the capital of the

Azuay Province Azuay (), Province of Azuay is a province of Ecuador, created on 25 June 1824. It encompasses an area of . Its capital is Cuenca. It is located in the south center of Ecuador in the highlands. Its mountains reach above sea level in the national ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. It is named after the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian military leader and politician

José de la Mar José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, a native of Cuenca.

Facilities

Since 2002 the

Instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS) for the airport is fully operational. The Cuenca

non-directional beacon A non-directional beacon (NDB) or non-directional radio beacon is a radio beacon which does not include directional information. Radio beacons are radio transmitters at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. NDB are ...

(Ident: CUR) is located off the approach threshold of Runway 23. The Cuenca

VOR-DME In radio navigation, a VOR/DME is a radio beacon that combines a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) with a distance-measuring equipment (DME). The VOR allows the receiver to measure its bearing to or from the beacon, while the DME provides the slan ...

(Ident: CUV) is located off the same runway. The airport is in a high elevation basin within the Ecuadorian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, 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 The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

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 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

operating a

TAME Tame may refer to: *Taming, the act of training wild animals *River Tame, Greater Manchester *River Tame, West Midlands and the Tame Valley *Tame, Arauca, a Colombian town and municipality * "Tame" (song), a song by the Pixies from their 1989 alb ...

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.

References

External links

OpenStreetMap - CuencaSkyVector - Cuenca
* *
Official site of the airport
{{authority control Airports in Ecuador Buildings and structures in Azuay Province Cuenca, Ecuador

Facilities

Airlines and destinations

Incidents

See also

References

External links