Viru Viru International Airport

Viru Viru International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Viru Viru
IATA: VVI ICAO: SLVR
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	NAABOL
Location	Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Opened	1983;42 years ago (1983)
Hub for	Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos
Focus city for	Boliviana de Aviación
Elevation  AMSL	1,225 ft / 373 m
Coordinates	17°38′41″S63°08′07″W / 17.64472°S 63.13528°W / -17.64472; -63.13528
Website	www.naabol.gob.bo
Map
VVI Location of airport in Bolivia
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 16/34 11,483 3,500 Concrete
Statistics (2023)
Passengers 4,116,329
Source: SABSA, [1] Airport Statistics [2]

Viru Viru International Airport( IATA : VVI, ICAO : SLVR) in Santa Cruz de la Sierra is Bolivia's largest international airport. Viru Viru handles domestic, regional, and international flights from Bolivia, North America, South America and Europe and serves as a focus city for Bolivia's biggest airline Boliviana de Aviación. The airport is able to handle widebody aircraft including the Boeing 747-400.

History

The idea of having an airport in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was conceived in 1965 by General René Barrientos, ^{[3] [4]} former president of Bolivia, with the intention of creating an intercontinental airport. Shortly thereafter, construction of the airport began until it was completed and inaugurated in 1983, to replace the obsolete El Trompillo Airport.^{[ citation needed ]} Upon its inauguration, Viru Viru became a main gateway for international flights. Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano used Viru Viru as a hub before ceasing operations in 2008.^{[ citation needed ]}

On 1 March 1997, the government of Bolivia entered into a 25-year contract with Airport Group International to operate the three largest airports in Bolivia — El Alto International Airport in La Paz, Jorge Wilstermann International Airport in Cochabamba and Viru Viru International Airport.^{[ citation needed ]} Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos Sociedad Anonima (SABSA) was created to operate the concession. In 1999, Airport Group International was purchased by TBI plc.

In 2004, Spain's Abertis/AENA purchased TBI. The airport was nationalized by the Bolivian government in 2013. ^[5]

SABSA has been substituted in March of 2022 by the newly established government agency Navegación Aérea y Aeropuertos Bolivianos (NAABOL). This state-owned agency now manages the airports in Bolivia. ^[6]

Name

The name "Viru Viru" originates from the indigenous Guarani language spoken in the area. Most likely, "Viru Viru" refers to a toponym or a distinctive geographical feature after which the airport was named. There is some ambiguity about the meaning of it based on sources in the internet. Different meanings have been proposed:

• Some say it means "round object" or "round place", referring to a nearby hill that has a circular shape, resembling a round object.
• Others say it refers to a river that has now disappeared and was located 13 kilometres from the city. The tributary was in the same pampa where the airport was built. ^[7]
• Lastly, it could mean "pampa, plain", which was the name of the whole geographical area of the place where the airport was built. ^[8]

Today, some researchers claim that the correct spelling of the term would be "Birubiru". ^[9]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Viru Viru International Airport:

Airlines	Destinations
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Buenos Aires–Aeroparque
Air Europa	Madrid
Avianca	Bogotá
Boliviana de Aviación	Asunción, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Caracas, Cochabamba, Havana, Iquique, [10] La Paz, Lima, Madrid, Miami, Oruro, Panama City–Tocumen (begins 4 November 2025), [11] Rio de Janeiro–Galeão (begins 7 November 2025), [12] Santiago de Chile, [10] São Paulo–Guarulhos, Sucre, Tarija, Trinidad, Washington–Dulles (begins 4 November 2025) [11] Seasonal: Barcelona [13]
Conviasa	Caracas (ends 1 October 2025) [14]
Copa Airlines	Panama City–Tocumen
EcoJet	Cobija, Guayaramerín, Riberalta, Sucre, Tarija, Trinidad
Gol Linhas Aéreas	São Paulo–Guarulhos
LATAM Chile	Santiago de Chile
LATAM Perú	Lima
Paranair	Asunción
TAMep	Cochabamba, La Paz

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
AerCaribe	Lima
TAB - Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos	Cochabamba, La Paz, Miami

Statistics

Busiest international routes from VVI
(2015–2016) ^{[15] [ needs update ]}

Rank	City	Passengers	Top carriers	% Change
1	Miami, United States	386,496	American Airlines, Boliviana de Aviación	4%
2	São Paulo (Guarulhos), Brazil	372,773	Boliviana de Aviación, Gol Airlines	10%
3	Buenos Aires (Ezeiza), Argentina	358,943	Aerolíneas Argentinas, Boliviana de Aviación	43%
4	Madrid, Spain	348,603	Air Europa, Boliviana de Aviación	5%
5	Panama City, Panama	278,277	Copa Airlines	15%
6	Lima, Peru	268,584	Avianca Ecuador, LATAM Perú	26%
7	Iquique, Chile	94,733	Amaszonas, LATAM Chile	7%
8	Asunción, Paraguay	79,962	Amaszonas, LATAM Paraguay	13%

References

1. "Aeropuerto Intl. El Alto - Bienvenidos a la Paz". Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
3. Arce San Martín, Santiago R. (16 April 2008), "Liderazgo en Bolivia", Opinión Bolivia, retrieved 9 December 2022
4. "Bolivia sin una verdadera puerta de conexión al mundo". Datos-Bo. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
5. "Bolivia nationalizes Spanish-owned airports operator". Reuters. 18 February 2013. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
6. "Gobierno anuncia que SABSA pasará a NAABOL y ofrece a trabajadores formar parte de la institución". 24 February 2022.
7. ultracasas.com - 5 datos que NO CONOCÍAS acerca del Aeropuerto de VIRU VIRU
8. https://www.flickriver.com/photos/dan59/4540707944/ flickriver.com - Aeropuerto Internacional Viru Viru
9. ultracasas.com - 5 datos que NO CONOCÍAS acerca del Aeropuerto de VIRU VIRU
10. "Boliviana de Aviacion mid-2Q25 Chile Network Additions". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
11. "Boliviana de Aviacion Schedules Washington Nov 2025 Launch". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
12. "Estatal boliviana anuncia que terá voos para o Rio de Janeiro ainda este ano". Aeroin (in Portuguese). 26 August 2025. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
13. "Boliviana de Aviación ya vende sus vuelos a Barcelona".
14. "Conviasa suspende rota para a Bolívia". Flap International (in Portuguese). 2 September 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
15. "Tráfico de pasajeros – Origen/Destino Servicio Regular Internacional" (PDF). Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (Bolivia) (in Spanish). January 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2017.

External links

Media related to Viru Viru International Airport at Wikimedia Commons