Ilopango International Airport is an airport located on the eastern part of the city of San Salvador, El Salvador, once serving the city as its international airport until it was replaced by the larger and more modern Comalapa International Airport, located about 50 km south of the city. Currently, Ilopango is used for military and charter aviation only. It also holds the annual Ilopango Air Show. The airport is also home to the National Aviation Museum (Museo Nacional de Aviación) of San Salvador, which is housed in the old terminal building.

During the civil war it was a perfect target for bombs from the guerrillas, the rebel group that also destroyed El Puente de Oro (The Golden Bridge), a hanging bridge over the Lempa River.

Rehabilitation

Ilopango has the problem that many airports in Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 have: it borders on the city and has houses near it so its runway can't be expanded. Its hangars will be relocated and modernized to serve as a modern commercial airport. It will be mainly used by the tourist complex project PORTOPANGO at Lake Ilopango

Lake Ilopango

Lake Ilopango is a crater lake which fills a scenic 8 x 11 km volcanic caldera in central El Salvador. The caldera, which contains the second largest lake in the country and is located immediately east of the capital city, San Salvador, has a scalloped to high rim.-Eruptive History:Four...

 and for domestic flights between other airports that will be built in El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

.

History

Ilopango was once the largest and busiest airport in Central America until the civil war disrupted its operations. It ended its international flight service in the late 1970s, with the building of the bigger and more modern Comalapa International. Currently, there is a plan that involves the modernization and enlargement of the airport to accommodate modern aircraft. In 2001, the administration of the airport passed from the military to the Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma (CEPA), which is in charge of planning the modernization project. http://www.cepa.gob.sv/

During the 1980s, hangars four and five of the Ilopango air base were used as a stopover in the transfer of military supplies heading South to the Contras and drugs moving North into the U.S. Declassified interviews taken during Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh's investigation into Iran-Contra date the Contra's use of the airport to 1983 when CIA pilot Marcos Aguado approached Salvadoran Air Force commander Juan Rafael Bustillo

Juan Rafael Bustillo

Juan Rafael Bustillo is a former General in the Air Force of El Salvador and is known for planning the murder of six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter at the Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" in El Salvador on November 16 1989.Bustillo was born in San Miguel in 1935,...

 to secure hangar space for the operation.

Facts

Iberia Airlines

Iberia Airlines

Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., commonly known as Iberia, is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main bases of Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport....

 held the commonly known "La Ruta de los Tres Santos" (Three Saints Route) which was San Juan - San Salvador - San Jose.

Some airlines that served Ilopango in the past

• Aviateca
  Aviateca
  Aviateca was the state-owned flag carrier of Guatemala, headquartered in Guatemala City. It is now a subsidiary of Grupo TACA.- History :The airline was established on 14 March 1945 as Empresa Guatemalteca de Aviación S. A., which was shortened to Aviateca. It was formed as the successor to...
  
   (Guatemala)
• Lacsa
  Lacsa
  Lacsa , is the national airline of Costa Rica and is based in San José. It operates international scheduled services to over 35 destinations in Central, North and South America. All international services are now operated by Grupo TACA...
  
   (San José (CR))
• TACA
  TACA
  TACA may refer to:* TACA Airlines, a group of five Central American airlines* Talk About Curing Autism* Turkish American Cultural Alliance...
  
   [Now part of Grupo TACA
  Grupo TACA
  TACA is the trade name "brand" comprising a group of five independently IATA-coded and -owned Central American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one and a number of other independently owned and IATA-coded regional airlines which code-share and feed the TACA brand system...
  
  ] (San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, Guatemala, Los Angeles, New York, Miami)
• Copa Airlines
  Copa Airlines
  Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., operating as Copa Airlines ', is an airline based in Panama City, Panama, and serves as Panama's flag carrier...
  
   (Panama City, San Andres Island)
• Iberia
  Iberia Airlines
  Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., commonly known as Iberia, is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main bases of Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport....
  
   (Madrid, Miami, San José (CR), San Juan)
• Pan Am (New York, Houston-Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Guatemala)
• Sahsa
  Sahsa
  Servicio Aéreo de Honduras SA otherwise known as SAHSA Airlines was the national flag carrier airline of Honduras from October 22, 1945 to January 14, 1994...
  
  (Tegucigalpa)