Airport
Olaya Herrera Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Olaya Herrera) (IATA: EOH, ICAO: SKMD) is an airport located in Medellín, Colombia, that serves regional and domestic flights. Additionally, the airport is used by general aviation and features several hangars for charters.
Today, it is considered the main regional airport of the country due to the large number of scheduled and charter flights operated to and from the airport. It was formerly known as Medellin International Airport prior to the opening of José María Córdova International Airport in the year 1985, which is located in the nearby municipality of Rionegro, 19 kilometres (12 mi) east of Medellin. Between the two airports, there were more than 3.5 million passengers per year, which makes it the second busiest passenger city in Colombia after Bogotá.[1]
In 2016, the airport handled 831,181 passengers, and 848,525 in 2017.
History
Colombian businessman Gonzalo Mejía saw an opportunity for the development of an airport in Medellin, given that the mountainous topography surrounding the city made land transport to and from the area difficult, and that the nearest airport was in Puerto Berrio. He secured financing from wealthy businessmen, chose the land where the airport sits today and overcame obstacles imposed by the local government. He founded Uraba Medellin Central Airways and established it as a subsidiary of Pan American Airways[citation needed], which at the time had the prospect of becoming the dominant player in global aviation. The airport opened on July 5, 1932, and was named after the then president of Colombia, Enrique Olaya Herrera, who had supported Mejía and his idea of an airport in Medellin.
In the 1940s the city was growing rapidly and new aircraft of the time required better facilities. Therefore, Mejía signed a contract in 1945 for the expansion of the runway and the existing facilities, a work that was completed on May 1, 1947.
In the 1970s, the airport was again over capacity and unable to meet demand, so the construction of new and larger José María Córdova International Airport in the nearby locality of Rionegro was announced. This resulted in the closure of Olaya Herrera Airport in 1986, a year after the new airport opened, and the reallocation of its land to a park. However, many people asked for the airport to remain open, and in 1991, it reopened with only domestic flights after a ruling by Aerocivil.[2] In the same year it closed, the airport saw some improvements as a result of Pope John Paul II's visit to the city in July. The visit also inspired the name for the park which remains on the western portion of the airport grounds: the Aeroparque Juan Pablo II.[3]
It was also one of the mainstays of carrier ACES from its beginnings to its demise in August 2003.
Today it is an airport with heavy use and constant growth (second in number of operations in Colombia) and was declared a national monument on October 19, 1995, for its historical, cultural, and architectural value for the city of Medellin and Colombia. In 2008, the national government gave the airport and five others in Colombia under concession to operating company Airplan,[4] which is conducting a series of renovations to the terminal (at the time of writing they are ongoing).
With an investment of more than US$27 million, Airplan began the transformation under the parameters defined in its concession contract with the Aeronáutuica Public Establecimeinto Olaya Herrera. The modernization plan began in March 2009 and ends in 2014.[5][6] Among the main objectives are to ensure aviation safety, passenger comfort, and meeting the requirements of ICAO, Aerocivil, and IATA. Olaya Herrera Airport operational spaces have Category B, according to IATA.[7]
Structure and capacity
There are restrictions on the types of aircraft operating from the airport due to its classification as regional airport. Commercial flights can operate aircraft of up to 50 passengers, with the exception of Satena, which operates Embraer 170 aircraft carrying up to 76 passengers.
The passenger terminal has two waiting rooms off the main aircraft apron (which has a capacity of over 30 aircraft). It also has a shopping area with banking establishments, offices and shops, a food court, 11 double counters, airline check-in, a smoking room, and close connection with the Plaza Gardel.[8]
The airport has 111 hangars located south of the terminal, where the executive offices of several commercial, charter, and cargo airlines, as well as flight schools can also be found. Aires Airlines built a hangar on the north end of the airport in order to service aircraft and reaffirm their commitment to Medellin and the new base of operations at the airport[citation needed]. Flight schools Aviation Antioqueña Academy[9] and the Falcons School of Aviation, operate from the hangar area as well.
Along with five other airports, Olaya Herrera Airport was given in concession to private operator Airplan to manage.[10] The proposed works include a total refurbishment of the terminal, the construction of a cargo terminal, repairing the track platform, implementing new security systems, the expansion and refurbishment of waiting rooms and baggage claim belts, construction of a new control tower on the west side, construction of a business aviation terminal that will serve domestic and international flights of this type (with the intention of encouraging the return of international flights to the airport), new shopping areas, among others.
Aerolínea de Antioquia has its headquarters on the airport property and has six hangars to store and perform maintenance on their planes.[11] West Caribbean Airways, when it existed, had its corporate headquarters, operational center, and call center in Hangar 73 on the airport grounds.[12]
