Viru Viru International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Viru Viru | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Operator | NAABOL | ||||||||||
Location | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | ||||||||||
Opened | 1983 | ||||||||||
Hub for | |||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
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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.
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. 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. [5]
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:
Today, some researchers claim that the correct spelling of the term would be "Birubiru". [8]
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Viru Viru International Airport:
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
AerCaribe | Lima |
TAB - Transportes Aéreos Bolivianos | Cochabamba, La Paz, Miami |
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% |
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz , is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area, which is formed by La Paz, El Alto, Achocalla, Viacha, and Mecapaca makes up the second most populous urban area in Bolivia, with a population of 2.2 million, after Santa Cruz de la Sierra with a population of 2.3 million. It is also the capital of the La Paz Department.
Mexico City International Airport ; officially Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez is the primary international airport serving Greater Mexico City. It is the busiest airport in Mexico and Latin America, ranking as the 17th-busiest in the world and eighth in North America as of 2022, based on passenger traffic and aircraft movements.
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), internationally known as LAB Bolivian Airlines, was the flag carrier and principal airline of Bolivia from 1925 until it ceased operations in 2010. It was the second oldest airline in South America after Avianca, and among the oldest airlines in the world. It operated scheduled domestic and international services to destinations in the Americas together with a transatlantic route to Madrid in Spain. It was headquartered in Cochabamba, having its main domestic hub at the city's Jorge Wilstermann International Airport, and international hubs at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz and El Alto International Airport in La Paz.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department.
Cochabamba is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630,587 according to the 2012 Bolivian census. Its name is from a compound of the Quechua words qucha "lake" and pampa, "open plain." Residents of the city and the surrounding areas are commonly referred to as cochalas or, more formally, cochabambinos.
AeroSur was the second largest privately owned airline in Bolivia, headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It operated a domestic and international flight network from its main hub at Viru Viru International Airport to major cities in Bolivia and destinations in South America, the United States and Spain. Founded in April 1992 to take advantage of the deregulation of Bolivia's air transport, it started flying on 24 August that year between Santa Cruz and Potosí.
TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar was an airline based in La Paz, Bolivia. It was owned by the Bolivian Air Force, and was established to offer flights to rural communities where commercial airlines could not operate profitably. It also operated in competition with commercial airlines on many of Bolivia's trunk domestic routes. In September 2019, the airline suspended all operations.
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El Alto International Airport is an international airport serving La Paz, Bolivia. It is located in the city of El Alto, 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of La Paz. At an elevation of 4,061.5 metres (13,325 ft), it is the highest international airport in the world, the seventh highest commercial airport in the world and the highest commercial airport outside of China.
TBI Limited was an airport owner and operator, incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1972. It was a subsidiary of Airport Concessions and Development Limited (ACDL), owned by Spanish companies Abertis Infraestructuras S.A. (90%) and AENA Desarrollo Internacional S.A. (10%).
Jorge Wilstermann International Airport is a high elevation international airport serving Cochabamba, the capital of the Cochabamba Department of Bolivia. The facility is named after Jorge Wilstermann, an early Bolivian commercial aviator. The airport used to be the main base of operations for Bolivia's former flag carrier Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano and currently serves as the main domestic hub for Boliviana de Aviación due to its geographical location at the center of Bolivia.
The Bolivian Air Force is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces.
Línea Aérea Amaszonas S.A. operating as Amas Bolivia was a regional airline based in Bolivia, headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra with its administrative center in La Paz. It operated scheduled and chartered short-haul passenger flights throughout the northern and northeastern regions of the country as well as to neighboring Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Paraguay, with its network's hub that was located at El Alto International Airport. It was acquired by NELLA Airlines Group in August 2021 and sold to businessman Luiz Divino in September 2023.
El Trompillo Airport is located in the south part of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, about 2 km away from the central plaza.
Aero Comercial Oriente Norte Ltda., doing business as Aerocon, was a Bolivian airline. Its national office was in Hangar 93 in El Trompillo Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Boliviana de Aviación and stylized as BoA, is the flag carrier airline of Bolivia and is wholly owned by the country's government. Founded in October 2007 and headquartered in Cochabamba, it operates most of its domestic network out of its primary hub at Jorge Wilstermann International Airport while its international services operate out Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is the largest airline in Bolivia and sixth largest in South America, in terms of fleet size and passengers carried.
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Avión Pirata is the name given by Bolivians to a Lockheed Constellation which mysteriously carried flights into El Trompillo Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, during 1961. The airplane has remained in Bolivia since 1961, when it was forced to land by the Bolivian Air Force after a chase in which an Air Force Captain died in a crash.
Luis Fernando Camacho Vaca is a Bolivian activist, businessman, lawyer, and politician serving as the 2nd governor of Santa Cruz since 2021. He is the leader of Creemos, opposition bench in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and was the chair of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee in 2019.
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