El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engativá district and through the municipality of Funza in the Western Savanna Province of the Cundinamarca Department. It is the second busiest airport in Latin America, after São Paulo - Guarulhos International Airport . With 760,000 metric tons of cargo passing through the same year, it is also Iberoamerica's most important cargo hub. El Dorado is also by far the busiest and most important airport in Colombia, accounting for just under half (49%) of the country's air traffic. The facility covers and contains two long runways. El Dorado has direct international flights to North America, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East.
Strategically located between the Americas, it is the most well-connected airport in Latin America, and is the 20th most connected in the world as of 2024. Its location helps to facilitate both cargo and passengers connections between both continents and beyond. For this reason, it is globally-known as The Hub of the Americas. It is the most important hub for the Colombian flag carrier Avianca and its subsidiaries Avianca Express and Avianca Cargo. It is also a base for LATAM Colombia, Copa Airlines Colombia, Satena, and a number of other airlines. It is owned by the Government of Colombia and operated by Operadora Aeroportuaria Internacional (OPAIN), a consortium composed of Colombian construction and engineering firms, and the Swiss company Flughafen Zürich AG, the company that operates Zurich Airport.
El Dorado has consistently been ranked since 2016 by World Airport Awards and Skytrax as among the best airports in the world. It was ranked as the best airport in South America by World Airport Awards and the best airport in Latin America overall by Skytrax with a four-star certification by Skytrax in 2022. It was also ranked as having the best staff in South America, placed 35th in Skytrax's World's Top 100 Airports, and ranked the 2nd cleanest airport in Latin America by Skytrax in 2023.
History
The airport was designed and built during the government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla as part of his campaign to modernize the country. Construction began in 1955 and entered in service by December 1959, replacing the aging Techo International Airport, which had been the city's main airport since 1930.
Before its inauguration, Soledad International Airport in Barranquilla was the nation's air hub. It was relegated to secondary importance in the country when El Dorado Airport opened.
The Sociedad de Mejoras y Ornato de Bogotá was in charge of the external decoration of the airport. On 29 September, after a meeting of the Board of Directors of project, the inauguration date was set for 10 December 1959.
Before its completion on 28 October 1959, the airports's manager, René Van Meerbeke, recommended that the airport's name be placed in the central part of the building's façade; however, the name was the subject of much reflection: a short, easy-to-pronounce, terrigenous name was sought that would recall the aboriginal culture that occupied the Bogotá Savannah. Thus, El Dorado was chosen as the most appropriate name for the new terminal. After much discussion among academics led by Professor Luis López de Mesa, Father Félix Restrepo and Alberto Miramón, the name of the airport was determined by decree, written without spaces, forming a single word.
On 10 December 1959, the El Dorado International Airport was inaugurated with a spectacular aeronautical exhibition beginning on 6 December which included 16 airplanes, 12 jet-propelled and four additional B-26s that caused the greatest impression on the public.
In the archives of the firm of architects and engineers Cuéllar, Serrano, Gómez y Cía., which participated in the construction of the airport, and of the Sociedad de Mejoras y Ornato, there is no record of the company that manufactured the Eldorado sign; neither is the weight of the eight letters known, since they did not need maintenance since they were installed.
The airport reached a milestone in 1973 with over three million passengers and nearly 5 million units of luggage processed. Plans began for a second runway at El Dorado with concerns that the explosive growth would lead to over congestion in the future.
In 1990, the Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics (Aerocivil) moved to the airport.
In 1998, the airport's second runway was inaugurated, which has received much disagreement from the residents of the nearby area of Fontibón, due to the incessant air operations during the day and night.
In 2012, in accordance with Law 75 of 1989, which honors the memory of Luis Carlos Galán, Law 1529 of 2012 made official the name change from "El Dorado International Airport" to "Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento El Dorado International Airport", including the space between "El" and "Dorado", and the name of the politician from Bumán. This name change generated a strong controversy, especially because of the costs associated with it, and because of the non-existent relationship between Galán and the airport.
At the end of 2017, all the works corresponding to El Dorado International Airport and the new Terminal 1 were fully handed over. The Terminal 1 grew from 173,000 to 235,000 m2 (square meters), with the potential to serve up to 43 million people per year.
Avianca hub Avianca officially opened a hub in Bogotá in December 1998. The carrier flies to 52 destinations from Bogota as of August 2023.
It is now one of two hubs operated by the carrier, the other being Avianca El Salvador's hub at El Salvador International Airport.
Puente Aéreo In 1981, Avianca undertook the construction of the Puente Aéreo Terminal inaugurated by President Julio César Turbay Ayala.
The name Puente Aéreo means Air Bridge in English. Avianca's original purpose for the terminal was for flights serving Cali, Medellín, Miami and New York. During the first years of operation and until 2005 Avianca gradually moved all of its domestic operations to the Puente Aéreo and moved the Miami and New York operations to the main terminal.
This allowed them to streamline their operations by using space previously assigned to customs and immigration for passenger gates and lounges. The culmination of this process came in 2006 when the airline undertook extensive renovations on the building. However, the airline was mindful of the impending and current renovations of El Dorado. One possible plan will be demolishing the Puente Aéreo Terminal, Main terminal and old cargo buildings which will be replaced with a new mega terminal. Many of the renovations made to the terminal in 2006 were obviously temporary and designed to be cheap but effective. For example, the walkways for the new gates are simply floor tiles placed over the old tarmac and the structure is made of aluminum with plastic sheets instead of glass windows. Passengers must cross the lanes used by buses, baggage carts and other vehicles in order to reach the aircraft. Once at the gate travellers must climb stairs to access the plane, the norm in the 1950s and 1960s but has for many years been surpassed by jetways.
In February 2008, Avianca opened a pioneer store called Avianca store which sells different products including: toy airplanes, hats, umbrellas, clothing, stuffed toys, pens, mugs and other such products, all embossed with the company logo. The store was an instant success and the airline expanded the concept to various other cities in Colombia.
On 28 April 2018, Avianca moved its entire domestic operation to Terminal 1 and local carriers Satena and EasyFly started operating from Puente Aéreo or Terminal 2.
CATAM military airport On 3 September 1932 it was launched the first Military Transport Service in Colombia, when a Junkers F-13 carried Colonel Luis Acevedo and his party to Leticia. Colonel Acevedo also served as Colombia's General Director of aviation. Although the military air transport infrastructure was not formed yet, that mission was accomplished during the conflict with Peru in a rudimentary but effective way, with aircraft like the Junkers W 34, Ju 52 and BT-32 Condor.
In 1954 he created a "Liaison Squadron" operating under direct orders of the President of the Republic, at the time, Gen. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. The Squadron was located in the Airport of Techo, the first airport of Bogotá. Its success led to the creation of a Military Airlift Group, which reached the category of Transportation Base in 1959. By then El Dorado International Airport was finished, so the Colombian Air Force ordered the transfer of the Unit to an area adjacent to the new Airport of El Dorado, using the civil airport facilities, while finishing the construction of a new base. The base was baptized as Comando Aéreo de Transporte Militar (Military Transportation Air Command) or CATAM. The base was inaugurated on 28 May 1963.
The base acquired the status of Operations and Logistics Support Center by FAC Directive No. 4429 of 8 July 1963, starting operations on 25 October. In 1968 the first two Hercules C-130B, with Colombian airplane military numbers FAC-1001 and FAC-1002, were delivered to this base. These aircraft, clearly designed for war missions and troop and materials transport, were able to use short and unpaved runways used in military operations through the country, fulfilling the needs of Colombian Air Force.
In 1977, the Military Transport Aviation Command was named after the Colombian aviation pioneer, Honorary Brigadier General Camilo Daza Alvarez. In order to expand its capacity for troop and cargo transportation in support of surface forces, in their fight against subversion and drug trafficking, the Air Force acquired new C-130 Hercules aircraft that been used for security purposes but also for humanitarian assistance. Between 1990 and 1991 the base received from the U.S. government six C-130B aircraft to support operations to combat drug trafficking and guerrillas.
In 1996 the base opened new ground accesses through an area devoted to the Military Transport Aviation Command. The narrow street that impeded the entrance and exit of vehicles was replaced by a dual carriageway and a tunnel that allows access to vehicular traffic passing below the airplane access ramp to runway number 2 of El Dorado International Airport. The parking lot was also enlarged to serve up to 260 vehicles. The base hosts the Colombian Air Force Museum, which has planes in display that represent the various types used in service during the 85 years history of the force.
In 2003 NVG equipment for night vision air operations was installed in Hercules C-130 and CN-235 Nurtanio airplanes. This increased the operational and support capacity of the base given to ground Army force, by allowing transportation, parachuting and aeromedical evacuation on combat runways lacking illumination. In this way Colombian Air Force almost doubled its operating capacity at this base, since it works 24 hours a day.
Terminals and facilities