La Aurora International Airport (IATA: GUA, ICAO: MGGT) serves Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. It is located 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi; 3.5 nmi) south of Guatemala City's center and 25 km (16 mi; 13 nmi) from Antigua Guatemala. It is administered by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics.
The airport is the fourth-busiest in Central America in terms of passenger traffic behind Tocumen International Airport in Panamá, Juan Santamaría International Airport in Costa Rica, and the El Salvador International Airport.
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Overview
The airport's runway currently measures 2,987 m × 60 m (9,800 ft × 197 ft).
La Aurora International Airport has two exclusive VIP lounges: Los Añejos Business Lounge and Copa Club, a VIP lounge for passengers traveling on Copa Airlines and United Airlines.
The head office of the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics is located in the airport Zone 13.
History
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
Statistics
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.