La Aurora International Airport serves Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. It is located

Cargo operations are handled beside the passenger terminal building by COMBEX-IM or in the DHL hangars.

The head office of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics is located in the airport Zone 13.

China Airlines has started negotiations with the Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil (Guatemala) about the possibility of operating flights from Taipei-Taoyuan and making the airport a focus city for flights between Asia and Central America.

History

thumb|Original airport building,

During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force defending the Central American coastline against Axis powers submarines. The first American personnel began arriving in December 1941; the airfield was improved and expanded by the United States' 805th Engineer Aviation Battalion in early 1942. During its period of American use, the military facilities of the airport were known as Guatemala City Air Base. Flying units assigned to the airport were:

  • 51st Fighter Squadron (Detachment) (32d Fighter Group), 2 January 1942 – 9 March 1943, (P-40 Warhawk)
  • 74th Bombardment Squadron (40th, 6th Bombardment Groups), 9 January 1942 – 7 April 1944 (B-18 Bolo, B-17 Flying Fortress)
  • 44th Bombardment Squadron (40th Bombardment Group) 6 July 1942 – 4 June 1943, (B-18 Bolo)

Detachments from the airfield operated intermittently from San Jose Airport, San José, Costa Rica, and Puerto San José, Guatemala from 1942 though 1944. After the war ended, a small number of Americans remained at the airport performing training duties with the Guatemalan Air Force and also operating a weather station (MATS 6th Weather Squadron). United States personnel were restricted to base during the Guatemalan revolution following the death of Colonel Francisco Xavier Arana on 18 July 1949. Some artillery shells landed on the base during the violence. The facility was closed on 28 July 1949 and turned over to Guatemalan authorities.

In October 2004, Iberia introduced nonstop service to Madrid aboard Airbus A340s. The route resulted from the airline's decision to shut down its Miami hub, where passengers previously had to change planes.

The airport was closed for six months in 2020, from March to September, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

thumb|Check-in counters

thumb|Main corridor

thumb|Waiting room

thumb|Main corridor

<!-- Please use only independent sources. The airport and the airline itself are not independent sources. -->

Statistics

Passengers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"

|+ Busiest routes from La Aurora International Airport (2024)

|-

! Rank

! Airport

! Passengers

! Airlines

|-

| 1

| Los Angeles, California

| align="right" |501,486

| Alaska Airlines, Avianca El Salvador, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Volaris Costa Rica

|-

| 2

| San José, Costa Rica

| align="right" |441,644

| Avianca Costa Rica, Copa Airlines, Volaris Costa Rica

|-

| 3

| Panama City–Tocumen, Panama

| align="right" |416,332

| Copa Airlines

|-

| 4

| Mexico City–Benito Juárez, Mexico

| align="right" |413,213

| Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, Volaris Costa Rica, Volaris

|-

| 5

| San Salvador, El Salvador

| align="right" |368,894

| Avianca El Salvador, Avianca Guatemala, TAG Airlines, Volaris El Salvador

|-

| 6

| Houston–Intercontinental, Texas

| align="right" |361,082

| Spirit Airlines, United Airlines

|-

| 7

| Miami, Florida

| align="right" |357,686

| American Airlines, Frontier Airlines

|-

| 8

| Flores, Petén

| align="right" |350,797

| Avianca Guatemala, TAG Airlines

|-

| 9

| New York–JFK, New York

| align="right" |186,030

| Avianca El Salvador, JetBlue

|-

| 10

| Fort Lauderdale, Florida

| align="right" |185,889

| Spirit Airlines

|}

Accidents and incidents

  • On 1 March 1980, a Douglas C-47 of the Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca was damaged beyond repair near La Aurora.
  • On 6 April 1993, TACA Airlines Flight 510, a Boeing 767, ran off the end of Runway 19 (now Runway 20) after landing. A passenger on board filmed the landing, which showed a runway with standing water from a tropical storm which had just passed over. A great amount of runway had passed under the plane before touchdown and the pilot forced the landing. In spite of thrust reversers used, the plane could not slow down in time, began to shudder from excessive wheel-braking, the captain made a last second decision to steer the airplane to the left of the runway (avoiding a big ditch at the end of the runway), went down an embankment and stopped into some structures. Surprisingly, there were no fatalities and the only injured people were three non-passengers. The aircraft was written off.
  • On 28 April 1995, Faucett Flight 705, a Douglas DC-8 leased by Million Air, overshot the runway and crashed into several houses. All three crew members onboard survived, but six people on the ground were killed.
  • On 21 December 1999, Cubana de Aviación Flight 1216, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 (leased to Cubana by AOM French Airlines) overshot runway 19 during landing and crashed into a residential area. 16 of the 314 people on board were killed, along with two people on the ground.

References

  • Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil