Corn Island Airport

Corn Island International Airport
Summary
Airport typeMilitary/Public
OwnerRepublic of Nicaragua
OperatorEAAI
ServesGreat Corn Island
LocationGreat Corn Island
Focus city forLa Costeña
Elevation AMSL18 ft / 5 m
Coordinates12°10′17″N 83°03′38″W / 12.17139°N 83.06056°W / 12.17139; -83.06056
Map
RNI is located in Nicaragua
RNI
RNI
Location in Nicaragua
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 1,900 6,234 Asphalt
Source: GCM[1] Google Maps[2]
An Learjet 45 of Bank of Utah Trustee and an ATR 42-320 of La Costeña Airlines at Corn Island Airport

Corn Island International Airport (IATA: RNI, ICAO: MNCI) is a civil-military public International Airport that serves Great Corn Island in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua and located in the island's downtown area known locally as Brig Bay, The airport is managed by the state-run Administrative Company of International Airports, more commonly known as the EAAI given its Spanish name, the Empresa Administradora de Aeropuertos Internacionales.

The Bluefields NDB (ident: CIS) is located at the airport.[3]

The runway at the airport is 6,234 ft (1,900 m) long, and is at an elevation of 18 ft (5.5 m) above sea level.

Expansion

An expansion programme was underway by 2011, and by 2013 it was completed with the expansion of the runway from 4,750 feet (1,450 m) to 6,234 feet (1,900 m), and then the old runway was refurbished. Lights were going to be added to the runway, but as of 2023 there still has been no further information about the project.

The Terminal was also refurbished and modernized with new infrastructure upgrades, x-ray machines, two immigration offices, two cafeterias and a new parking lot.

The runway was extended so that medium-sized jet aircraft can land there such as the Embraer E-Jet, the Gulfstream G and the Bombardier Challenger. With a range of 2,150 nautical miles (3,980 km; 2,470 mi) and a minimum takeoff run of 1,644 metres (5,394 ft), the Embraer E-170 could, in theory, reach Corn Island Airport from airports throughout the East Coast of the United States as well as from the Caribbean and the northern mainland of South America. However, no further facilities to handle such a plane exist at the airport. Furthermore, the website of the Nicaraguan aviation authority informing about the airport only lists smaller regional airliners such as the ATR-72 as being capable of serving the airport despite already mentioning the current (lengthened) runway dimensions.[4]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
La Costeña Managua, Bluefields[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Airport information for Corn Island Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
  2. ^ Google Maps - Corn Island
  3. ^ SkyVector - Bluefields NDB
  4. ^ "Corn Island - EAAI".
  5. ^ "Destinations".