<h2 class="blog-hed2 pb-lg-4 pb-3 text-lg-center">Overview La Aurora International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para">La Aurora is being renovated, along with other airports in Guatemala, such as Mundo Maya International Airport, Quetzaltenango Airport, Puerto Barrios Airport, and San Jos&eacute; Airport. In July 2007, seven new gates were opened. These gates are equipped with jetway bridges and modern conveniences, also a new parking garage was also built and it can handle up to 500 vehicles.</p>
<p class="blog-para">There are brand new ticket counters. 2007 brought significant gate expansion (11 new gates were available starting December 2007). The airport now has two concourses. The northern concourse has 12 traditional gates and three remote gates. The central concourse, is used for larger aircraft as it provides 4&ndash;6 gates depending on the size of the aircraft.</p>
<p class="blog-para">The airport's runway currently measures 2,987 m &times; 60 m (9,800 ft &times; 197 ft).There have been efforts in the past to expand the runway but this has not yet been possible since there's a commercial area to the north of the runway and a small ravine near the southern side of the runway. Still, the renovation of the runway is in progress. The first phase consists in repaving the runway as well modernizing the illumination system. Future plans to expand the taxiway repave and move all the cargo facilities to San Jos&eacute; Airport in Escuintla and Puerto Barrios Airport in Izabal. This will make room for more passenger terminal area and improved taxiways. Finally, the airport administration building is being refurbished and a regional terminal is being built.</p>
<p class="blog-para">La Aurora International Airport has two exclusive VIP lounges: Los A&ntilde;ejos Business Lounge and Copa Club, a VIP lounge for passengers traveling on Copa Airlines and United Airlines 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.</p>
<h2 class="blog-hed2 pb-lg-4 pb-3 text-lg-left">History of La Aurora International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para">Original airport building, c.&thinsp;1940.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</p>
<p class="blog-para">Runway 03L/21R length does not include a 300 meters (980 ft.) paved overrun on the north end. The Maracaibo VORTAC (Ident: MAR) is located 0.81 nautical miles (1.50 km) northeast of the threshold of Runway 21R.</p>
<p class="blog-para">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:</p>
<p class="blog-para">51st Fighter Squadron (Detachment) (32d Fighter Group), 2 January 1942 &ndash; 9 March 1943, (P-40 Warhawk).</p>
<p class="blog-para">74th Bombardment Squadron (40th, 6th Bombardment Groups), 9 January 1942 &ndash; 7 April 1944 (B-18 Bolo, B-17 Flying Fortress).</p>
<p class="blog-para">44th Bombardment Squadron (40th Bombardment Group) 6 July 1942 &ndash; 4 June 1943, (B-18 Bolo).</p>
<p class="blog-para">Detachments from the airfield operated intermittently from San Jose Airport, San Jos&eacute;, Costa Rica, and Puerto San Jos&eacute;, Guatemala from 1942 through 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.</p>
<p class="blog-para">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.</p>
<p class="blog-para">The airport was closed for six months in 2020, from March to September, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p class="blog-para"><strong>La Aurora International Airport </strong></p>
<p class="blog-para">La Aurora International, located around 6km from Guatemala in Finca San, is the main airport serving the city. The third busiest airport in Central America, La Aurora recorded passenger traffic of 1.06 million in 2011.</p>
<p class="blog-para">LaLa Aurora International Airport serves the capital of Guatemala, Guatemala City and is the country's main gateway and fourth busiest airport in Central America. The airport is also a significant cargo hub, with connections throughout Central America and the United States. La Aurora is operated by Guatemala's Direcci&oacute;n General de Aeron&aacute;utica Civil (DGAC), whose head office is onsite.</p>
<p><img class="img-fluid p-lg-0 rounded w-100" title="La Aurora  Airport" src="../../main/img/airport/laa/1.webp" alt="La Aurora Airport" width="950px" height="500px"></p>