Viru Viru International Airport
Viru Viru International Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | abertis airports (Abertis) | ||||||||||
| Location | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,225 ft / 373 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 17°38′41″S 63°08′07″W / 17.64472°S 63.13528°W | ||||||||||
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Viru Viru International Airport (IATA: VVI, ICAO: SLVR) is an aviation facility located in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
The idea to have an airport in Santa Cruz was conceived in 1976. Soon after, construction of the airport began. Viru Viru filled a hole in the Bolivian aviation industry: With Santa Cruz being the second largest city in the South American country, Viru Viru became an important link between La Paz and the rest of the country. Because La Paz is a high altitude city, it can be difficult to reach by car from other Bolivian cities, and many travelers choose to fly from Viru Viru instead.
Colombian president Álvaro Uribe has entered Bolivia through Viru Viru, as did Nicaraguan vice-president José Ríga and many other notables.
Viru Viru is able to handle the largest commercial jets. Most of the flights that arrive here are either domestic flights, or flights from neighboring South American countries.
In 2005, the airport served 840,794 passengers.
Operators
On March 1, 1997 the Government of Bolivia Peruentered 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. Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos Sociedad Anonima (SABSA)was created to operate the concession. In 1999 Airport Group International was purchased by TBI plc and, in 2004, Spain's Abertis/AENA purchased TBI.
Incidents
On March 8, 2006, an Argentine airforce Learjet 35 flying from El Alto International Airport in La Paz to Viru Viru crashed after take off, killing all six people onboard.
October 2007 Dispute
During the week of Oct. 14, 2007, some local residents protesting the federal government made an armed attempt to prevent some international flights from leaving unless they made cash payments as "landing fees" to local officials. Governor of Santa Cruz Ruben Costas was quoted as saying the national air traffic control agency’s “corruption levels are just unsustainable". The Bolivian military seized the airport on Oct. 18. Javier Garcia, the head of civil aviation, said the airport will remain under federal control until it is clear there will be no more disturbances.[1]
Airlines and destinations
- Aerolíneas Argentinas (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza)
- Aerosur (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cochabamba, Cobija, La Paz, Madrid, Miami, Puerto Suarez, Rurrenabaque, Uyuni, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Sucre, Trinidad, Tarija)
- American Airlines (Miami)
- Gol Transportes Aéreos (Campo Grande)
- LAN Airlines (Antofagasta, Iquique, Santiago de Chile)
- LAN Peru (La Paz, Lima)
- TAM Mercosur (Asuncion)
- TACA
- TACA Peru (La Paz, Lima)