Manzanillo International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Manzanillo); officially Aeropuerto Internacional Playa de Oro(Playa de Oro International Airport) (IATA: ZLO, ICAO: MMZO) is an international airport located in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico. It manages domestic and international air traffic for the state of Colima and southern Jalisco, serving as an international gateway to the Mexican tourist destination of Manzanillo. Owned by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, the airport is named after the neighboring Playa de Oro ("Gold Beach"), itself named for the gold lost in the 1862 wreck of the SS Golden Gate. In 2023, it handled 180,500 passengers, increasing to 208,400 in 2024.[2]
Planning for a new international airport began in the late 1960s, driven by the development of the Las Hadas resort by Bolivian investor Antenor Patiño and the need for improved air access to the growing port of Manzanillo. The existing airfield at Salagua could only accommodate DC-3 aircraft and was surrounded by hills that posed safety concerns.[1]
The airport was inaugurated on 16 October 1973 by President Luis Echeverría Álvarez, with Governor Pablo Silva García in attendance. Construction cost 70 million pesos, partly financed by Patiño.[1] Commercial service by Aeroméxico began the previous day, initially using Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprops on flights 124 and 125 to Mexico City, with plans to upgrade to Douglas DC-9 jet service.[3]
Facilities
Terminal main entrance
The airport is west of the city of Manzanillo, adjacent to the Pacific coast and near the limits with the state of Jalisco. It is situated at an elevation of 9 metres (30ft) above mean sea level. The airport has one runway designated as 10/28 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,200 metres (7,200ft) and the capacity to accommodate narrow-body aircraft. The apron has four stands for narrow-body aircraft.
The passenger terminal, covering an area of 4,700 square metres (51,000sqft), houses both arrival and departure facilities for domestic and international flights. The terminal can handle 470 passengers per hour and offers typical services found at a regional airport, including check-in counters for domestic and international flights, car rental services (Alamo, Budget, Sixt, and Thrifty), taxi stands, and a departure concourse with four gates providing direct access to the apron, enabling passengers to board their planes by walking to the aircraft.
Additionally, the airport accommodates logistics and courier companies and features a dedicated general aviation terminal that supports various activities such as tourism, flight training, executive aviation, and general aviation.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger terminal airsideTerminal main entrancePassenger terminal airside
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