Las Américas International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas, or AILA) (IATA: SDQ, ICAO: MDSD) is an international airport located in Punta Caucedo, near Santo Domingo and Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. The airport is run by Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI (AERODOM), a private corporation based in the Dominican Republic, under a 25-year concession to build, operate, and transfer (BOT) six of the country's airports. Las Américas usually receives a wide variety of long-, mid-, and short-haul aircraft. Santo Domingo's other airport, La Isabela, is much smaller and used by smaller aircraft only.
The airport is the second-busiest in the country, after Punta Cana International Airport, and one of the largest in the Caribbean, handling 5.490 million passengers in 2023. It is also the busiest cargo hub in the Caribbean and Central America, with 355,000,000 lbs of cargo transported in 2019.
History
Las Américas Airport opened in 1959 as the official airport of Ciudad Trujillo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, with the city subsequently changing its name to Santo Domingo. The official name of the airport was changed in 2002 to "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas- José Francisco Peña Gómez (AIJFPG)" but is known as "Las Américas International Airport", or locally, "Las Américas Airport, AILA or "El Aeropuerto".
In April 1953, Chicago and Southern Air Lines, a U.S. based air carrier, was operating a weekly Lockheed Constellation service into Ciudad Trujillo with a southbound routing of Memphis - New Orleans - Port-au-Prince - Ciudad Trujillo - San Juan, PR and a northbound routing of San Juan - Ciudad Trujillo - Port-au-Prince - New Orleans - Memphis - St. Louis - Chicago.[2][3] By 1954, U.S. based Delta Air Lines (which was known as "Delta C&S" at the time following its acquisition and merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines in May 1953) was serving the Dominican Republic on a daily basis via the then-named General Andrews Airport in Ciudad Trujillo with nonstop flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico and Port au Prince, Haiti operated with Convair 340 twin prop aircraft.[4] The eastbound Delta flights operated a daily routing of Houston - New Orleans - Havana, Cuba - Port-au-Prince - Ciudad Trujillo - San Juan and the westbound Delta flights operated a daily routing of San Juan - Ciudad Trujillo - Port-au-Prince - Havana - New Orleans.[5] Also during the mid-1950s, U.S. based Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was serving Ciudad Trujillo with nonstop flights to New York City, Miami and Port-au-Prince operated with Douglas DC-6 four engine propliners (which the airline called the "Super-6 Clipper").[6] In 1960, locally based Dominicana de Aviacion, the former flag carrier of the Dominican Republic, was operating scheduled international passenger service nonstop between the airport and Miami with Douglas DC-4 four engine propliners and also nonstop between the airport and San Juan, Puerto Rico with Douglas DC-3 and Curtiss C-46 twin prop aircraft.[7]
By 1976, the airport was being served by American Airlines with nonstop Boeing 707 and Boeing 747 flights from New York City, Dominicana de Aviacion with nonstop Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 707-399C, Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (leased aircraft) service from New York City, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, Eastern Airlines with nonstop Boeing 727-100 service from San Juan, Puerto Rico as well as direct, no change of plane 727 flights from Cleveland and Miami, Pan Am with nonstop Boeing 707 service from Port au Prince as well as direct, one stop 707 service from Miami, ALM Antillean Airlines with nonstop and direct one stop McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 service from Curaçao, Viasa with nonstop Douglas DC-8 service from Curaçao and direct one stop DC-8 flights from Caracas, and locally based Aerovias Quisqueyana with nonstop Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 service from Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.[11] Also in 1976, Aerovias Quisqueyana was operating nonstop Boeing 707 transatlantic service from the airport to Madrid with this flight also providing direct one stop service to Rome.[12]
Recently, the expressway leading from Santo Domingo to the airport (roughly 20 km east of the city center) was expanded and modernised. The airport was also modernised, and two more terminals were added, including 20 more gates. The new expressway crosses a new suspension bridge which spans the Ozama River, connecting traffic into the city's Elevated Freeway and Tunnel system onto the city's main street, Av. 27 de Febrero. A more scenic route following the coastal shore provides beautiful views of the Caribbean Sea and of the city. This secondary road crosses the Ozama River by means of a floating bridge, connecting traffic onto the Av. George Washington (el Malecón) which leads into the heart of the colonial city.
On 18 April 2007, a new terminal was completed and opened for operations. It can accommodate four Boeing 747s simultaneously. This new terminal has four gates with boarding bridges, an air-conditioning system, and maintenance facilities for aircraft.[citation needed]
Facilities
Terminal exterior
Terminals
Las Américas has five gates on the main satellite concourse (A), A2 through A6. Other gate facilities are for the flights departing from a parking in the taxiway. back in the 1960s and 70s the airport used to be much smaller, The original building was half the size of today's newest structure but with a still modern look. Concourse B has four gates (B1 through B4) and remote stand (P8). Terminal B now features a co-branded Copa Club operated jointly by United Airlines and Copa Airlines, and a Private Lounge exclusive to members and business people. The average number of daily flights in and out of Las Américas ranges between 68 and 84. JetBlue is the largest airline operating at Las Américas.
Runway
Las Américas Airport's runway direction is north–south (designated 17–35). This runway is the largest in the country, and one of the largest in the Caribbean. With a length of 3,355 m, it is able to support a Boeing 747. The runway of SDQ was last renovated in June 2008. The old taxi-way was also renovated and converted into a full runway while the old runway was being renovated, then it was converted back into a taxiway after the normal runway was finished. The runway accommodated the Antonov An-225 to supply goods after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[17][18]
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Las Américas International Airport:
On November 12, 2001, two months after the September 11 attacks, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, crashed in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of New York City shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport due to separation of the vertical stabilizer after the first officer overused the rudder while trying to counter wake turbulence from a Boeing 747-400 ahead of them. All 260 people aboard the plane and five people on the ground were killed in the second-deadliest aviation accident on US soil, behind only American Airlines Flight 191.[citation needed]
On December 15, 2021, a Gulfstream IV business jet, registered as HI1050, departed Santo Domingo's La Isabella International Airport, en route to Orlando, Florida, before diverting to Las Americas International airport where the aircraft crashed during an attempted landing. Nine casualties were reported with no survivors. The incident is pending investigation.[citation needed]
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