Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.html



Coordinates: 18°26′22″N 066°00′07″W / 18.43944, -66.00194

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín
Main entrance into Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
IATA: SJU – ICAO: TJSJ – FAA: SJU
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Puerto Rico Ports Authority
Serves		San Juan
Location		Carolina, Puerto Rico
Elevation AMSL		9 ft / 3 m
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
8/26	10,002	3,049	Asphalt
10/28	8,016	2,443	Concrete
Statistics (2005)
Aircraft operations			217,434
Based aircraft			107
Source: Federal Aviation Administration1

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (IATA: SJU, ICAO: TJSJ, FAA LID: SJU) is a public airport located in Carolina, Puerto Rico (an insular area of the United States), three miles (five kilometers) southeast of San Juan. The airport receives over 10 million passengers per year making it the busiest airport in the Caribbean in terms of movement of passengers, and it is owned and managed by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.

History

SJU's Control Tower

The Teodoro Moscoso Bridge

The airport opened in 1955. Located in the area known as Isla Verde, the airport was for many decades known as Isla Verde International Airport, until 1985, when then Governor Rafael Hernández Colón decided to name it after Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rico's first democratically elected governor.^{citation needed}

The airport served as a Caribbean hub for Pan Am, Trans Caribbean Airways, Eastern Air Lines, and a short lived focus city for TWA. It was also the hub of Puerto Rico's international airline, Prinair from 1966 until 1984, when Prinair went bankrupt. In 1986, American Airlines (along with American Eagle) established a hub in the airport to compete with Eastern Air Lines. In the past, the airport has been served by Mexicana, Lufthansa, Air France, ACES Colombia, British Airways, Air Jamaica, Viasa, Aerolineas Argentinas, Virgin Atlantic, Dominicana De Aviacion, and ATA Airlines.^{citation needed}

Substantial efforts by the current administration to secure service to new destinations in Europe and other areas of Latin America, have so far yielded no new flights. This is probably due to the current state of the airline industry. Also, the rise of regional airports in Ponce and Aguadilla, have caused a dent to existing air service which certainly hasn't helped expand current service. All that put aside, routes to/from San Juan remain top performers for the airlines that do operate here.

Operations

Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport is the island's main international gateway and its main connection to United States mainland. Domestic flights fly between Carolina and other local destinations, including Aguadilla, Culebra, Mayagüez, Ponce and Vieques. The airport offers rapid access to San Juan, the capital of the island and this airport is the biggest airport in the Caribbean.

Facilities include a Best Western Hotel and Casino, a barber's shop, beauty salons, souvenir kiosks, duty-free shops, a Banco Popular de Puerto Rico branch and several ATMs throughout the facilities.

The airport also serves as the Caribbean hub for American Airlines and American Eagle.² American's hub operations will be truncated by over 50 percent (from 38 to 18 daily inbound flights), effective 3 September, but American and American Eagle will continue serving SJU in a diminished capacity.³⁴

Terminals and airlines

The Luis Muñoz Marín Airport has one main terminal building with four concourses and a new terminal building which will have one concourse.

The landside area of the main terminal building is divided into three distinct ticket counter areas: the American Airlines area, the Continental Airlines and Delta Airlines area, and a large counter area coontaning all the other airlines. The American Airlines area is nearest to concourses D and E, the Continental and Delta area is nearest to concourse C and the remaining area is nearest to concouse B.

The original airport design had a different layout which consisted of three terminals B, C and D. New signing around the airport has changed this.

Concourse A

Concourse A is currently under construction and it's slated to open on April 1, 2009. The concourse will be used by US Airways and Delta Air Lines. ⁵

Concourse B

Concourse B has 12 gates: 31A - 31B, 32 - 41

Two Cape Air Cessna 402C's in San Juan, PR

Concourse C

Concourse C has 9 gates: 20, 22 - 29

Concourse D

Overview of the American Airlines Terminal. (Former Eastern Air Lines Terminal)

Concourse D has 8 gates: 11 - 12, 14 - 19

Concourse E

Concourse E has 14 gates: 1A - 1F, 2 - 9

Note: Gates 1A - 1F and gates 2 - 6 are currently vacant due to American Airlines' San Juan hub cuts.

Future Airline

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) [Starts Nov 2009]

Air Charters Flights

Military/cargo ramps

Military ramp

• United States Air Force
  • Air National Guard
• Puerto Rico Air National Guard
  • Muniz ANGB
    • 156th Airlift Wing

Cargo services

• ABX Air
• Air Atlanta Icelandic
• Air Tahoma
• Ameriflight
• Amerijet International
• Arrow Air
• Capital Cargo International Airlines
• DHL
• Emirates Sky Cargo
• Evergreen International Airlines
• FedEx Express
• Four Star Aviation
• LAN Chile Airlines Cargo
• Martinair Holland Cargo
• Roblex Aviation
• Tampa Cargo
• UPS Airlines
• Volga-Dnepr

Airport expansion

As of 2008, the airport has been receiving major upgrades, including a new concourse (Concourse A), pavement and apron expansions, new light systems, press conference rooms, and new fast food franchises along its corridors.

Over $400 million will be used to expand the airport facilities through 2011. The new concourse is expected to open on April 2009.

Incidents and accidents

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

• On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviacion DC-9 that was flying to Isla Verde crashed shortly after takeoff from Las Américas International Airport in Punta Caucedo, Dominican Republic, near Santo Domingo, killing everyone on board, including Puerto Rico's national women's volleyball team and Dominican Carlos Cruz, a former world boxing champion who was going to San Juan for a rematch with Carlos Ortiz. See: Dominicana DC-9 air disaster
• On June 24, 1972, Prinair Flight 191, which took off from Isla Verde Airport, crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport in Ponce.
• On December 31 of that same year, baseball star Roberto Clemente and his companions died when their DC-7 crashed soon after takeoff from Isla Verde during a relief flight bound for Nicaragua. Neither the bodies of the victims nor the plane's wreckage were ever found.
• In 1983, a hijacked Alitalia DC-10 landed at this airport, under orders by the hijacker.
• In 1985, an American Airlines DC-10 taking off from Muñoz Marín to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas overran the runway and nosedived into a nearby lake. There were no injuries.
• 24 September 1998 - Trans-Florida Airlines Convair 240-13 (N91237) had an engine problem on take-off. It attempted to return to the airport, but lost altitude and was force landed in a salt water lagoon some 2 miles short of the runway. The aircraft was written off, but the two crew and one passenger were uninjured. ⁶
• On May 9, 2004 an American Eagle Super ATR, flight 5401, crash-landed when one of the tires popped. Seventeen people were injured, but no fatalities.

References

1. ^ FAA Airport Master Record for SJU (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-03-15
2. ^ Official AMR Website Profile with Hub List retrieved 5/27/2008
3. ^ http://www.caribbeanlogue.com/american-airlines-reducing-caribbean-flights.html
4. ^ American Airlines, American Eagle Cut Flights to Caribbean - Business - redOrbit
5. ^ [1] retrieved 10/30/2008
6. ^ Aviation Safety Network retrieved 27 November 2006

External links

Puerto Rico portal

• FAA Airport Diagram(PDF), effective 20 November 2008
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for TJSJ
  • ASN accident history for SJU
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker for TJSJ
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations for TJSJ
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for SJU
  • Airport information for TJSJ at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.

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