Airport Overview

Main Airport

General Overview

El Salvador International Airport (AIES) has a main runway (07-25) of 3,200 meters long, 60 meters wide. Parallel to the main runway there is the taxiway "Alfa", which connects the track through six outings. For use of small aircraft, it was built also a secondary runway (18-36), with a length of 800 meters, which is currently used as parking "LP" for aircraft. The platform of the Passenger Terminal Building (ETP) has seventeen positions for aircraft parking; fourteen of them have their respective boarding bridges, connecting the aircraft directly to their waiting rooms. The three remaining positions are "remote", meaning that passengers who disembark in any of them are transferred to the terminal with airbuses. The ETP has built a total area of 34,380 square meters, which is home to waiting rooms and corridors, areas of Immigration and Customs and diversity of stores. Based on passenger traffic, this is the third busiest airport in Central America. In 2010, fewer than two million passengers passed through AIES.

It is expected that before the end of the first half of 2021 the expansion of the airport will be inaugurated, which will include 5 new waiting rooms for passengers.

It is important to mention that the WFP has an agreement with the 2nd. air brigade of the Salvadoran Air Force, next to the airport, where we have a military ramp for PMA air activities, as a second option for operations.

Performance

Cargo capacity

Cargo movement in 2021: 35,076,643 Kg

Info.: Anuario estadístico AIES 2021

Airfield details

Runway

Helicopter pad(s)

 Airport operating details

Costs – Airfield charges

Most airport tariffs and fees can be found on the following link that was updated in 2014.

Info: Anexo XXIX Tarifas Vigentes AIES.pdf

Costs – Aircraft handling charges

Costs - Aircraft servicing charges

Costs – Cargo terminal charges

Air-Bridge Charges

Not applicable.

Fuel services charges

For every gallon of fuel supplied to aircrafts a fee concession of US$0.048 is charged. The two airport fuel suppliers are PUMA (252,000gl/day) and UNO (90,000gl/day).

Security

El Salvador International Airport (AIES), located in Comalapa, was built in the late 1970s. It is well guarded by CEPA, a private transportation authority, and the National Police. The airport uses the same grounds as the principal military airbase, only 2 km from the passenger terminal. Customs has a very strong presence at both the passenger and cargo terminals, and uses trained dogs to detect for explosives and narcotics. Inside the terminal, the Airport Authority Police and National Police Force have installed metal detectors to further guarantee security there.  The police have also implemented better protocols in order to prevent drug trafficking. The Airport Authority Police and National Police Force are present outside the terminals, too. The airport has a guarded parking area. Security problems are quite common on the road from the airport to the capital, a distance of 43 kilometers, were criminals are very active.

 

Storage facilities

The Cargo Terminal Building (ETC) can accommodate various types of freighter aircraft as there are three positions parking. There is also a platform for the simultaneous maintenance of five different aircrafts. The platform is located opposite the hangars AEROMANTENIMIENTO (Aeroman), also a modern repair shop that has achieved high levels of service in Latin America that represents an added value for the AIES. The ETC also operates its own warehouse which accommodates various offices and has a total area of 10,286 square meters. Ground handling companies

 

For more information, please see the following link: El Salvador Airport Companies Contact List. 

Information on some aviation service providers can be found at: http://www.azfreight.com/  

https://privejets.com/aviones-privados/el-salvador

http://www.caaa-tase.com.sv/transporte.html

 

 

Overview

Ilopango Airport was once the International airport until Monseñor Arnulfo Romero, in Comalapa, was made operational. Ilopango handles both military and civilian flights (private airplanes). Following the Earthquakes in 2001, Ilopango became the principal while damage assessments were carried out on the runways at the International airport in Comalapa.   A new passenger’s terminal was inaugurated in 2016.  The waiting room has a capacity for 60 maximum passengers. The new terminal also has capacity to attend 1,100 passengers a month. Flights are available by a Guatemalan company to Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize (via Guatemala).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Location of Aerodromes and Heliports

List of aerodromes and heliports; certified and with updated operational permit (July 2021)

Others

In April 2013 Deutsche Post DHL in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the “Get Airports Ready for Disasters (GARD) Programme “carried out a training at the two airports of El Salvador (Comalapa and Ilopango) in order to assess the capacity of the two airports in case of emergencies, so Salvadorian authorities be able to optimize their capacity of relieving goods and to allow smoother processes at the airports.  

Participants of this training were from entities who take part during emergencies in the country such as Aviation Authority, Comision Ejecutiva Portuaria Autonoma (CEPA), Civil Protection, Red Cross, the World Food Programme, US Navy, El Salvador Armed Forces, US NAVY, El Salvador Armed Forces, and UNDP.  

The following findings and recommendations were discussed at the training and a final document will be sent by DHL to the participants, so measures are taken.

Ilopango Airport

Findings:

• Ilopango airport is located on a landslide high risk land, which minimizes its probability of extension.
• There is not enough loading/offloading equipment.
• Sanitation service is limited.
• In case of emergency, there is no generator for general lighting.
• Building is small for migration, customs, security, warehousing and for accommodation in case of emergency.
• The capacity to supply fuel for wide-body aircrafts is limited.
• Limited lighting for runways.
• Armed forces are available for first response duties.
• There is capacity to receive military wide-body aircrafts.
• The armed forces have a Rescue Humanitarian Unit.

 

Recommendations:

• For emergency operations, the airport is good for light-cargo aircrafts and helicopters.
• When planning, it is good to consider Ilopango as an alternate airport.
• Consideration to obtain an emergency generator
• Provide emergency lighting system for the runaway
• Modernize and reinforce sanitation services.

 

 Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero - International Airport

Findings:

• In case of emergency there is not a contingency plan specifically for the cargo terminal, as well as for Customs, Civil National Police, Armed Forces, and land support companies.
• Lack of additional equipment for loading/offloading humanitarian cargo from aircrafts.
• Not enough space for passenger terminal (Migration and Customs).
• Lack of vehicles for transporting passengers from remote places.
• Lack of enough equipment to mobilize cargo.
• Lack of enough human resources for cargo management.
• Lack of enough office material and equipment to process information for dispatching humanitarian aids.

 

Recommendations:

• Prepare a contingency plan for cargo terminal.
• Celebrate agreements with land support companies at AIES in order to attend aircrafts at the moment of emergencies.
• Extend passenger terminal.
• Acquisition of airbuses.
• Extend space to habilitate passenger service points.
• Provide equipment for emergency management.
• Continuous training for the existing team.
• Communication and revision of disaster humanitarian assistance manual.

No other inputs have been shared up to date (2021) regarding this.