Manta Air Base

Eloy Alfaro Air Base Eloy Alfaro International Airport
Characteristics
ICAO code	SEMT
IATA code	MEC
Coordinates	0 ° 56 ′ 46 ″  S , 80 ° 40 ′ 44 ″  W Coordinates: 0 ° 56 ′ 46 ″  S , 80 ° 40 ′ 44 ″  W
Height above MSL	15 m (49  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	2.5 km east of Manta
Basic data
opening	October 24, 1978
Start-and runway
06/24	2865 m × 45 m asphalt

The Manta Air Base (also: Eloy Alfaro International Airport or Eloy Alfaro Air Base ) is a civil and military airport in Ecuador . The airport is located near Manta in the Manabí province . The airport is named after the Ecuadorian former president Eloy Alfaro .

use

Civil use

Despite the name Eloy Alfaro International Airport , only airlines with national destinations operate from the airport in regular traffic. These include AeroGal , TAME and Icaro Air , the three most important airlines in the country.

Military use

In 1999, the governments of Ecuador and the United States of America signed a ten-year treaty that allowed the United States Air Force to deploy a force of up to 475 men . The alleged purpose of the stationing was to carry out military operations against drug cultivation in Colombia from Manta. Manta Air Base operations accounted for 60% of the United States' drug control. The US Southern Command intervened several times directly from the air base in the social and armed conflict in Colombia .

The Manta base was not welcome to the majority of Ecuadorians from the start. The treaty came about without a vote in Congress and thus actually violated the constitution. Complaints by numerous civil rights groups against the alleged violation of the constitution were rejected by the constitutional court on the grounds that the agreement could not be terminated unilaterally.

The President of Ecuador Rafael Correa , who has been in office since 2007 , announced that there would be no renewal of the treaty. In an interview with the news broadcaster teleSUR , he confirmed this decision and added that an extension of the contract would only be considered if Ecuador were allowed to build a military base in Miami in return. On October 20, 2008, a new constitution came into force in Ecuador. It prohibits the stationing of foreign troops on Ecuadorian territory. Because of this, the USA looked for possible replacement locations for Manta. The last US soldier left the base in Manta in September 2009 after a contract had been signed shortly before between the US and Colombia that allows the US to operate seven additional military bases in Colombia.

Incidents

• On October 22, 1996, a Boeing 707-323C operated by the US company Millon Air ( aircraft registration number N751MA ) brushed rooftops shortly after taking off from Manta Airport and crashed into a restaurant. All four occupants of the machine and 23 people died on the ground in the accident (see also Millon Air flight 406 ) .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Amy Butler: "Down South: Regional cost-sharing seems an option for Central American AFs' aging systems", Aviation Week & Space Technology , January 21 , 2008 , p. 34 (English)
2. ↑ Simon Romero: "Ecuador Opposes Outpost In American War On Drugs," New York Times , May 12 , 2008 , p. 8 (English)
3. ↑ Washington Times , "US Told To Stop Using Air Base," July 30, 2008, pp. 19; Joshua Partlow: " Ecuador Giving US Air Base The Boot, " Washington Post , September 4, 2008. (English)
4. ↑ Harald Neuber: Ecuador's President Correa announces state reform after being sworn in. In: Telepolis. January 18, 2007, accessed January 1, 2010 . 
5. ^ Sven Schaller: Manta / Ecuador, military base. In: Quetzal. April 2008, accessed January 1, 2010 . 
6. ↑ El presidente electo ecuatoriano Rafael Correa confirma que no firmará el TLC con EEUU ni renovará la cesión de base militar de Manta. In: Rebelión. December 22, 2006, Retrieved January 1, 2010 (Spanish). 
7. ↑ New constitution entered into force. In: The Standard. October 21, 2008, accessed January 1, 2010 . 
8. ↑ Harald Neuber: Manta belongs to Ecuador again. In: amerika21. September 18, 2009, accessed January 1, 2010 . 
9. ↑ Manfred Burger: Obama, quo vadis? More US military bases in Colombia are fueling the region. (No longer available online.) In: Uruguay Magazin. September 1, 2009, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved January 1, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Accident Report B-707 N751MA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 9, 2020th

Web links

• Manta Air Base at Flugplaetze.org
• Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )
• Airport data in the Aviation Safety Network (English)