Carrasco International Airport

Carrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport (IATA: MVD, ICAO: SUMU) is the main international airport of Uruguay. It also is the country's largest airport and it was located in the namegiving Carrasco neighborhood, later in time the region formed part of Canelones, actually located in Ciudad de la Costa. It has been cited as one of the most efficient and traveler-friendly airports in Latin America.[4]

Carrasco International Airport

Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorPuerta Del Sur
ServesCiudad de la Costa, Uruguay
LocationCiudad de la Costa, Canelones
Opened1947 (1947)
Elevation AMSL105 ft / 32 m
Coordinates34°50′18″S 56°01′51″W
Websitewww.aeropuertodecarrasco.com.uy
Map
MVD
Location in the city of Montevideo
MVD
MVD (Uruguay)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 2,250 7,382 Asphalt
06/24 3,322 10,899 Asphalt
Statistics (2017, 2010 (cargo))
Passengers2,102,516
Metric tonnes of cargo27,395
Sources: Airport Website [1] SkyVector[2] Google Maps[3]

The airport is named in honour of Cesáreo L. Berisso, a pioneer of Uruguayan aviation, and it also hosts an air base of the Uruguayan Air Force.

History

The original passenger terminal was inaugurated in 1947.

In 2003 the Uruguayan government transferred the administration, operation and maintenance of the airport to the private investment group Puerta del Sur S.A, which since then invested in several upgrades of the airport.

On 3 February 2007, construction began on a new and modern terminal that is located parallel to Runway 06/24. The new terminal, designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, has the capacity to handle 3 million passengers a year, including a much larger parking area built for over 1200 vehicles. This new terminal building has four jetways, separate floors for arrivals and departures and a large viewing area on the top floor. The terminal has room for expansion for two additional jetways and a maximum capacity of 6 million passengers per year before the building would need actual enlargement. The new terminal was inaugurated on 5 October 2009 with official operations beginning on 29 December 2009.

A new US$15 million cargo terminal was also constructed.

There is also a GA zone, with a Cessna Maintenance Facility (Sofitech) and several LAR 141 Flight Schools which operate in this Airport as homebase.

Regular passenger flights were suspended in mid March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regular flights to Spain were resumed in July, and to São Paulo and Santiago in August.

Facilities

View towards the terminal

Runway 06/24 has been strengthened and lengthened to 3,200 metres (10,499 ft), which allows airlines to operate non-stop flights to the United States and Europe. Runway 01/19 was lengthened to 2,250 metres (7,382 ft) and the former Runway 10/28 is permanently closed because the new terminal cuts across it.

The Runway 06/24 length includes a 412 metres (1,352 ft) displaced threshold on Runway 06, and a 207 metres (679 ft) displaced threshold on Runway 24.

Terminal exterior

The Carrasco VOR-DME (Ident: CRR) is located on the field. There are several non-directional beacons around the airport associated with instrument approach procedures.[5]

Airlines and destinations

Check-in hall

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aerolíneas ArgentinasBuenos Aires–Ezeiza (resumes 1 March 2021)[6]
Air Europa Madrid
Amaszonas Santa Cruz de la Sierra–Viru Viru
American Airlines Miami[7]
Avianca Bogotá[8]
Copa Airlines Panama City–Tocumen
Gol Transportes Aéreos São Paulo–Guarulhos (resumes 28 March 2021)[9]
Iberia Madrid
LATAM Brasil São Paulo–Guarulhos[10]
LATAM Chile Santiago de Chile[10]
LATAM Perú Lima
Paranair Asunción[11]
Sky Airline Seasonal: Santiago de Chile

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
AirClass Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Santiago de Chile
Aeromas Buenos Aires–Ezeiza
Avianca Cargo Bogotá
LATAM Cargo Chile Miami, Santiago de Chile
Lufthansa Cargo Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Campinas, Dakar–Senghor, Frankfurt
Western Global Airlines Miami

Statistics

Traffic20182017201620152014201320122011201020082007200620052004
Passengers 2.074.668[12]2,102,5161,870,8531,671,2341,602,3211,561,9401,761,7832,180,0291,654,2701,236,4151,168,1991,102,2991,061,337996,106
Cargo (tons) 27,39524,70024,63324,71226,14925,445

Ground transportation

The airport is located 19 km (12 mi) from downtown Montevideo. The airport is served by public transit and a private taxi service which connect to Montevideo and Punta del Este.[13] The trip time to Montevideo by car is 30–45 minutes, while by bus it is 1 hour and 15 minutes. The cost of the trip depends on the destination point and is arranged in the airport or booked online.

Other facilities

The Oficina de Investigación y Prevención de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación (OIPAIA) of the National Civil Aviation and Aviation Infrastructure Direction (DINACIA) has its head office on the airport property.[14]

Accidents and incidents

Gral. Cesáreo Berisso A.B.

The General Cesareo Berisso Air Base is a base of the Uruguayan Air Force. It shares runways with the Carrasco International Airport. Most of its facilities are located just east of the old civilian terminal. It is named in honor of Cesáreo L. Berisso Cesáreo L. Berisso, a pioneer of Uruguayan aviation.

Air Brigade I

Potez 25 aircraft

Air Brigade I, one of the three brigades of the Uruguayan Air Force, is stationed at the base. It was created as Aeronáutica n.º 1 in April 1936, when it was assigned 8 Potez 25 fighter aircraft.

Air Brigade I comprises three units:

  • The Central Office of Assistance and the Carrasco Rescue Coordination Center.
  • No. 3 Squadron (Transportation)
  • No. 5 Squadron (Helicopters)

No. 3 Squadron (Transportation)

No. 3 Squadron operates 4 aircraft types:

No.5 Squadron (Helicopters)

No.5 Squadron operates 3 helicopter types:

Aeronautical Museum Cnel. Jaime Meregalli

Also on the base is the Cnel. Jaime Meregalli Aeronautical Museum, with a hangar for static aircraft display, in addition to a building that exhibits aviation historical material.

See also

References

  1. "Aeropuerto de Carrasco - Montevideo Uruguay". Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  2. "Montevideo/Carrasco L Berisso Airport". SkyVector. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  3. "Carrasco International Airport". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Carrasco VOR". Our Airports. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. "Aerolíneas Argentinas cancela los vuelos a Montevideo y Punta del Este". Aviacionline (in Spanish). 5 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  7. Liu, Jim. "American Airlines NW20 Intercontinental operations as of 27SEP20". Routesonline. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  8. "Avianca retomará las operaciones a Montevideo en diciembre". Aviacionline (in Spanish). 21 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  9. "Essa é a programação atual da volta dos voos internacionais da GOL". Aeroin (in Portuguese). 15 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  10. "LATAM Airlines Group Sep 2020 International operations as of 06SEP20". Routes Online. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  11. "Paranair oficializa malla de vuelos regulares para noviembre". Aeronauticapy (in Spanish). 31 October 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  12. https://negocios.elpais.com.uy/noticias/actividad-aeropuerto-carrasco-cae-cinco-anos.html
  13. "Airport/Transport". Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  14. "OIPAIA." (Archive) National Civil Aviation and Aviation Infrastructure Direction. Retrieved on 17 April 2012. "Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco Av. Wilson Ferreira Aldunate (ex Cno. Carrasco) 5519."
  15. "Accident description PP-AQE". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  16. "Crash: Air Class SW4 near Flores Island on Jun 6th 2012, aircraft missing". Aviation Herald.com. Retrieved 23 June 2012.

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