Eloy Alfaro International Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||
| Operator | Military of Ecuador | ||||||||||
| Location | Manta,Ecuador | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 48 ft / 15 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 00°56′45″S80°40′43″W / 0.94583°S 80.67861°W /-0.94583; -80.67861 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  MEC Location of airport in Ecuador | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Source: WAD[1] GCM[2] | |||||||||||
Eloy Alfaro International Airport (IATA:MEC,ICAO:SEMT) is a combination civilian airport and military air base on thePacific coast nearManta, a city in theManabí Province ofEcuador. The airport, also known asEloy Alfaro Air Base,[3] is named in honor ofEloy Alfaro, a former president of Ecuador. It was inaugurated by theEcuadorian Air Force on October 24, 1978. It is thefourth-busiest airport in Ecuador.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Avianca Ecuador | Quito |
| Copa Airlines | Panama City–Tocumen[4] |
| LATAM Ecuador | Quito |
A portion of the airport was used until July 2009 by theAir Forces Southern Air Force component of theUnited States Southern Command, for operations against illegalcocaine trafficking in northwestern South America. It was formally known as Forward Operating Location Manta. In 1999, the U.S. signed a ten-year agreement with then Ecuadorean PresidentJamil Mahuad allowing the U.S. to station up 475 military personnel atManta, rent-free.[5] USAFAWACSE-3 andUnited States NavyP-3 Orion aircraft, supported by about 300 US military personnel, operated from the base to monitor air traffic in the area. The U.S. aircraft based at Manta fed surveillance information to theJoint Interagency Task Force South inKey West. The aircraft at the base flew about 100 missions per month looking for drug-running boats departing Colombia. In 2007, the flights led to about 200 cocaine seizures, totaling about 230 tons. The flights accounted for about 60 percent of U.S. drug interdiction in the eastern Pacific.[6][7][8]
From before his election,PresidentRafael Correa stated that he would not renew the agreement that allowed the United States access to the base when it expires in November 2009, and commented that "We can negotiate with the U.S. about a base in Manta, if they let us put a military base inMiami..." .[9] On March 19, 2008, theEcuadorian Constituent Assembly voted to outlaw the installation of any foreign military bases and installations in Ecuador.[10] On July 26, 2008, Ecuador's Foreign Ministry formally notified the U.S. embassy that the U.S. lease on the base would not be renewed.[8][11]
AdmiralJames Stavridis, chief of the U.S. Southern Command stated on April 21, 2008, that there were no plans to find a replacement drug-interdiction air base in South America if Ecuador declined to renew the lease of Manta. Instead, the U.S. military would use existing air bases inEl Salvador,Curaçao, andKey West,Florida for drug-surveillance flights.[12] Other bases in the continental mass have been posited as candidates for a replacement.
On April 14, 2009, U.S. ambassador to ColombiaWilliam Brownfield announced that the base would be relocating from Manta to a location somewhere in Colombia. Said Brownfield, "Colombia and the U.S. are collaborating on efforts against illegal drugs. Part of this collaboration, without doubt, requires access to facilities between both countries."[13] As of July 2009, the U.S. was negotiating with Colombia to usePalanquero Air Base inPuerto Salgar as Manta's replacement.[14]
The last U.S. military anti-narcotics surveillance mission from Manta was flown on July 17, 2009.[15]
