Carrasco International Airport

Carrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (IATA: MVD, ICAO: SUMU) is the main international airport of Uruguay. It also is the country's largest airport and it was located in the namegiving Carrasco neighborhood, later in time the region formed part of Canelones, actually located in Ciudad de la Costa. It has been cited as one of the most efficient and traveler-friendly airports in Latin America.[4]

Carrasco International Airport

Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorPuerta Del Sur
ServesCiudad de la Costa, Uruguay
LocationCiudad de la Costa, Canelones
Hub forAmaszonas Uruguay
Elevation AMSL105 ft / 32 m
Coordinates34°50′18″S 56°01′51″W
Websitewww.aeropuertodecarrasco.com.uy
Map
MVD
Location in the city of Montevideo
MVD
MVD (Uruguay)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 2,250 7,382 Asphalt
06/24 3,322 10,899 Asphalt
Statistics (2017, 2010 (cargo))
Passengers2,102,516
Metric tonnes of cargo27,395
Sources: Airport Website [1] SkyVector[2] Google Maps[3]

The airport is named in honour of Cesáreo L. Berisso, a pioneer of Uruguayan aviation, and it also hosts an air base of the Uruguayan Air Force.

History

The original passenger terminal was inaugurated in 1947.

In 2003 the Uruguayan government transferred the administration, operation and maintenance of the airport to the private investment group Puerta del Sur S.A, which since then invested in several upgrades of the airport.

On 3 February 2007, construction began on a new and modern terminal that is located parallel to Runway 06/24. The new terminal, designed by Uruguayan born architect Rafael Viñoly, has the capacity to handle 3 million passengers a year, including a much larger parking area built for over 1200 vehicles. This new terminal building has four jetways, separate floors for arrivals and departures and a large viewing area on the top floor. The terminal has room for expansion for two additional jetways and a maximum capacity of 6 million passengers per year before the building would need actual enlargement. The new terminal was inaugurated on 5 October 2009 with official operations beginning on 29 December 2009.

A new US$15 million cargo terminal was also constructed.

Regular passenger flights were suspended in mid March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is also a GA zone, with a Cessna Maintenance Facility (Sofitech) and several LAR 141 Flight Schools which operate in this Airport as homebase.

Facilities

Runway 06/24 has been strengthened and lengthened to 3,200 metres (10,499 ft), which allows airlines to operate non-stop flights to the United States and Europe. Runway 01/19 was lengthened to 2,250 metres (7,382 ft) and the former Runway 10/28 is permanently closed because the new terminal cuts across it.

The Runway 06/24 length includes a 412 metres (1,352 ft) displaced threshold on Runway 06, and a 207 metres (679 ft) displaced threshold on Runway 24.

Terminal exterior

The Carrasco VOR-DME (Ident: CRR) is located on the field. There are several non-directional beacons around the airport associated with instrument approach procedures.[5]

Airlines and destinations
Check-in hall

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Aerolíneas ArgentinasBuenos Aires, Córdoba (AR)
Air Europa Madrid
Alitalia Rome–Fiumicino
Amaszonas Uruguay Asunción, Barcelona, Bogotá–El Dorado, Buenos Aires, Córdoba (AR), Lima, Madrid, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, Miami, Palermo (AR), Porto Alegre, Punta del Este, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, San Carlos de Bariloche, Santiago, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Ushuaia
American Airlines Miami[6]
Austral Líneas Aéreas Buenos Aires
Avianca Bogotá–El Dorado
Copa Airlines Panama City–Tocumen
Gol Airlines Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, São Paulo–Guarulhos
Iberia Madrid
LATAM Brasil Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, São Paulo–Guarulhos
LATAM Chile Santiago de Chile
LATAM Perú Lima
Paranair Asunción
Sky Airline Seasonal: Santiago de Chile

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
AirClass Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Santiago de Chile
Aeromas Buenos Aires–Ezeiza
Avianca Cargo Bogotá
LATAM Cargo Chile Miami, Santiago de Chile
Lufthansa Cargo Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Campinas, Dakar–Senghor, Frankfurt
Western Global Airlines Miami

Statistics
Traffic20182017201620152014201320122011201020082007200620052004
Passengers 2.074.668[7]2,102,5161,870,8531,671,2341,602,3211,561,9401,761,7832,180,0291,654,2701,236,4151,168,1991,102,2991,061,337996,106
Cargo (tons) 27,39524,70024,63324,71226,14925,445

Ground transportation

The airport is located 19 km (12 mi) from downtown Montevideo. The airport is served by public transit and a private taxi service which connect to Montevideo and Punta del Este.[8] The trip time to Montevideo by car is 30–45 minutes, while by bus it is 1 hour and 15 minutes. The cost of the trip depends on the destination point and is arranged in the airport or booked online.

Other facilities

The Oficina de Investigación y Prevención de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación (OIPAIA) of the National Civil Aviation and Aviation Infrastructure Direction (DINACIA) has its head office on the airport property.[9]

Accidents and incidents
  • 18 September 1957: a Real Transportes Aéreos Convair 440-62 registration PP-AQE belonging to Transportes Aéreos Nacional, flying from Porto Alegre to Montevideo had an accident during touch down operations in Montevideo. While on a night landing procedure under fog, the aircraft undershot the runway by 1,030m, causing the left and middle gear to hit an earth bank bordering a highway. The right wing touched the ground and further on the aircraft lost both propellers. The right wing then broke off. One crew member died.[10]
  • 6 June 2012: an Air Class Líneas Aéreas Fairchild SA227AC Metro III, registered CX-LAS, performing a freight flight on behalf of DHL from Montevideo to Buenos Aires disappeared south of Isla de Flores.[11] Parts of the aircraft were located by a scuba diver approximately 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) south of Isla de Flores on 20 July 2012.

Gral. Cesáreo Berisso A.B.

The General Cesareo Berisso Air Base is a base of the Uruguayan Air Force. It shares runways with the Carrasco International Airport. Most of its facilities are located just east of the old civilian terminal. It is named in honor of Cesáreo L. Berisso Cesáreo L. Berisso, a pioneer of Uruguayan aviation.

Air Brigade I
Potez 25 aircraft

Air Brigade I, one of the three brigades of the Uruguayan Air Force, is stationed at the base. It was created as Aeronáutica n.º 1 in April 1936, when it was assigned 8 Potez 25 fighter aircraft.

Air Brigade I comprises three units:

  • The Central Office of Assistance and the Carrasco Rescue Coordination Center.
  • No. 3 Squadron (Transportation)
  • No. 5 Squadron (Helicopters)

No. 3 Squadron (Transportation)

No. 3 Squadron operates 4 aircraft types:

View towards the terminal

No.5 Squadron (Helicopters)

No.5 Squadron operates 3 helicopter types:

Aeronautical Museum Cnel. Jaime Meregalli

Also on the base is the Cnel. Jaime Meregalli Aeronautical Museum, with a hangar for static aircraft display, in addition to a building that exhibits aviation historical material.

See also

References
  1. "Aeropuerto de Carrasco - Montevideo Uruguay". Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. "Montevideo/Carrasco L Berisso Airport". SkyVector. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  3. "Carrasco International Airport". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Carrasco VOR". Our Airports. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. Liu, Jim. "American Airlines NS20 International Long-Haul changes as of 10MAR20". Routesonline. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. https://negocios.elpais.com.uy/noticias/actividad-aeropuerto-carrasco-cae-cinco-anos.html
  8. "Airport/Transport". Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  9. "OIPAIA." (Archive) National Civil Aviation and Aviation Infrastructure Direction. Retrieved on 17 April 2012. "Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco Av. Wilson Ferreira Aldunate (ex Cno. Carrasco) 5519."
  10. "Accident description PP-AQE". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  11. "Crash: Air Class SW4 near Flores Island on Jun 6th 2012, aircraft missing". Aviation Herald.com. Retrieved 23 June 2012.

Media related to Carrasco International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.