El Alto International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto | |||||||||||||||
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 Main terminal | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Government of Bolivia | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Navegación Aérea y Aeropuertos Bolivianos (NAABOL) | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | La Paz, Bolivia | ||||||||||||||
| Location | El Alto, Bolivia | ||||||||||||||
| Focus city for | |||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,061.5 m / 13,325 ft | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 16°30′48″S068°11′32″W / 16.51333°S 68.19222°W /-16.51333; -68.19222 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | https://naabol.gob.bo/aeropuerto-internacional-el-alto/ | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  LPB Location of airport in Bolivia | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||||||
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| Source: SABSA,[1] Airport Statistics | |||||||||||||||
El Alto International Airport (Spanish:Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto) (IATA:LPB,ICAO:SLLP) is aninternational airport servingLa Paz,Bolivia. It is located in the city ofEl Alto,[2] 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of La Paz.[3] At an elevation of 4,061.5 metres (13,325 ft), it is the highest international airport in the world, the seventhhighest commercial airport in the world and the highest commercial airport outside ofChina.[4]
The airport has been in service since the first half of the 20th century, but was modernized in the late 1960s, when its runway was lengthened and a new passenger terminal with modern facilities was built. The new airport was inaugurated in 1965.[5]El Alto airport was a primary hub for the formerLloyd Aéreo Boliviano, Bolivia'sflag carrier which ceased operations in 2007. It serves also as afocus city forBoliviana de Aviación, Bolivia's flag carrier and state-owned airline.[6]
Bolivia is characterized by an extremely varied terrain including rugged mountains, high plateaus, low valleys and tropical forests; this topography has had a negative effect on national transportation, making communication difficult between elevated and low cities along with isolated tropical towns. Aviation is an important means of access for isolated communities in this environment.
Bolivian air transport started in 1916, when the Military School of Aviation (Spanish:Escuela Militar de Aviación) was formed in La Paz. In 1929, the local La Paz Government first planned the construction of an airport; however, it was not officially inaugurated until the 1960s. In 1974, the airport was reconstructed, a new terminal was built, and its facilities were enlarged and modernized.[7]
Until 1999, the airport hadJohn F. Kennedy (JFK) as its official name, although in practice this name was never publicly used.[citation needed] In that year, before the pressure of different sectors, by means of the Law 1944 during the government ofHugo Banzer Suárez, the airport changed its name officially toEl Alto International Airport.
In 2006, SABSA (Spanish:Servicios Aeroportuarios Bolivianos S.A.) invested nearly 2.3 million dollars in the reconstruction of the main terminal.[8] The new terminal consists of the enlargement, reshaping and construction of the baggage claim room, the check-in area and the corridor to the air bridges. The administrative offices of AASANA as well as the main hall and the international area were completely modernized.[9]
_on_the_right_-_LPB_airport_(in_El_Alto)_at_4160m_-_(24720405392).jpg)
The new terminal includes various shops offering Bolivian handicrafts as well as bookstores andduty-free shops. There are also restaurants and cafes in the main lobby and in both domestic and international departure areas.
The airport has two runways: The main one "10R/28L" has a concrete surface and is 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) long, allowing large aircraft operations at higher altitudes. A second runway, "10L/28R" is located parallel to the main runway and has a grass surface. The airport is equipped withVOR/DME, DVOR/DME navigation systems, as well asILS CAT I approach systems.
El Alto is the world's highest international airport, located at 4,062 metres (13,327 ft)above sea level. The average temperature at the airport is 6 °C (43 °F). Because of the thin high altitude air, most commercialwide-body aircraft such as theBoeing 747 andAirbus A330 cannot operate at full load out of El Alto International Airport. As a result, much of the international traffic to and from Bolivia operates out ofViru Viru International Airport inSanta Cruz de la Sierra which is located at a much lower elevation, allowing heavy aircraft operations.
As one of the world's highest-elevation airports, El Alto offers features taken advantage of by aircraft manufacturers such asAirbus,Bombardier, andBoeing to test high-altitude takeoff and landing. Modern aircraft such as theAirbus A350 XWB,Airbus A330neo andBoeing 787 Dreamliner have used El Alto to perform flight tests for their certification processes.[10][11][12]
From 1997, the airport was managed byTBI plc which owned concessions of the three biggest airports in the country: El Alto International Airport,Jorge Wilstermann International Airport andViru Viru International Airport through its subsidiaryServicio de Aeropuertos Bolivianos S.A. (SABSA). In 1999 Airport Group International was purchased byTBI plc. In 2004, the company was acquired by the Spanish conglomerateAbertis, hence taking ownership of SABSA. In February 2013, theGovernment of Bolivia announced thenationalization of SABSA, taking full ownership and operations of Bolivia's main international gateways.[13][14]
SABSA has been substituted in March 2022 by the newly established government agencyNavegación Aérea y Aeropuertos Bolivianos (NAABOL).[15]
Media related toEl Alto International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
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| Preceded by | World's highest airport 4,061 m (13,323 ft) 1965–1994 | Succeeded by |