| Airport of the Pacific | |
| Image Alt: | Nayib Bukele and Fernando Romero viewing a model of the Airport of the Pacific's terminal and standing in front of a series of interior terminal designs |
| Type: | Public/military |
| Owner: | Government of El Salvador |
| Operator: | (CEPA) |
| City-Served: | La Unión and Bitcoin City |
| Location: | Conchagua, El Salvador |
| Opened: | 2027 (estimated) |
| Built: | Beginning in 2024 (planned) |
| Timezone: | CST |
| Utc: | UTC–6 |
| Coordinates: | 13.1994°N -87.9408°W |
| Website: | Official website |
| Pushpin Map: | El Salvador |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Planned location in El Salvador |
| Pushpin Label: | Conchagua |
| R1-Number: | TBD |
| R1-Length-F: | 7900 |
| R1-Length-M: | 2400 |
| R1-Surface: | TBD |
The Airport of the Pacific (es|Aeropuerto del Pacífico)[1] is a planned joint-use civilian international airport and military base that will be located in Conchagua, El Salvador. It will serve the city of La Unión and the planned Bitcoin City. The airport was proposed by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele during his 2019 presidential campaign as a part of his Cuscatlán Plan and construction was approved by the Legislative Assembly on 26 April 2022. Preliminary terraforming began in March 2023 and construction is planned to begin in December 2024.
In 2019, then Salvadoran presidential candidate Nayib Bukele published his Cuscatlán Plan, an outline of his objectives and goals for his term as president of El Salvador. Within the Cuscatlán Plan, Bukele proposed the construction of a new airport in eastern El Salvador,[2] [3] then referred to it as the "Airport in the East" (Spanish; Castilian: Aeropuerto en el Oriente). Bukele cited that many of the passengers who pass through El Salvador's Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport in south-central El Salvador live in eastern El Salvador, and that a new airport in the east would simultaneously ease congestion of El Salvador's main international airport and bring jobs and an economic boost to the east of the country.[4]
On 9 March 2020, the Salvadoran government began an international public offering, titled the "Pacific Airport Project", to foreign companies to study the design of the airport. In total, 44 companies in total showed interest in the project; of the 44 companies, 11 presented their economic models to the Salvadoran government.[5]
On 24 February 2022, the government was given an economic and financial report for the airport by Peyco-ALBEN 4000 Consortium, an air transportation company. The report estimated that the airport would create 4,700 new jobs in its first year of operation. The plan also estimated that within its first 10 years of operation, the airport would accommodate between 1 and 3 million passengers and around 18,000 aircraft movements. Federico Anliker, the president of the (CEPA) also estimated that the airport's construction would create over 23,700 new jobs.[6] In March 2022, CEPA confirmed that the airport would be located in the Condadillo Spanish; Castilian: [[Hamlet (place)|caserío]] of Conchagua, a district in the La Unión department just south of the city of La Unión and the planned Bitcoin City.[7] [8] The residents of Condadillo and the nearby Spanish; Castilian: caserío of Flor de Mangle will be relocated due to the airport's construction.[9]
On 25 April 2022, the Legislative Assembly's Economic Commission approved a law that would authorize the construction of the airport.[10] On 26 April 2022, the Legislative Assembly approved the law the Economic Commission approved the day prior, officially authorizing the construction of the airport. The law, titled the "Law for the Construction, Administration, Operation, and Maintenance of the Airport of the Pacific", passed with 67 of the 84 votes in favor. According to the Legislative Assembly, nine locations were considered; six were eliminated due to the perceived difficulty that would face aircraft landings, and the Legislative Assembly settled on construction at the selected site to minimize its effect on the environment.[11]
The Airport of the Pacific will have one passenger terminal; the first floor — including check-in, baggage claim, and customs — will have 126530ft2 of floorspace, while the second floor — including restaurants and other commercial spaces — will have 41495ft2 of floorspace. The airport will have one 7900adj=midNaNadj=mid, 148adj=midNaNadj=mid runway[12] and turnaround platforms at the ends of the runway for aircraft to position themselves for takeoff.[13] The Airport of the Pacific will also have a Salvadoran Air Force installation.
According to Oscar Avalle, a representative of the Development Bank for Latin America, the Airport of the Pacific's terminal will have two gates that will be able to serve two to three planes each. He added that the airport would be able to expand if demand for tourism to eastern El Salvador increased. Avalle stated that aircraft such as the Airbus A320, Boeing 737, and Boeing 757 would be able to land at the airport.[14] The government estimates that the airport will service 300,000 to 500,000 passengers annually.[15]
Preliminary terraforming for the Airport of the Pacific began in March 2023.[16] In October 2024, CEPA announced that a groundbreaking ceremony would be held in late 2024 and that proper construction would begin in 2025.[17] Anliker stated that the government was moving at a "very accelerated pace" ("Spanish; Castilian: paso bastante acelerado") regarding the airport's construction.[18] In April 2022, the government estimated that construction would cost US$500 million over 10 years;[19] in December 2024, Avalle revised the government's estimate to US$328 million and Bukele stated that the airport would be inaugurated in two years' time.[20]
In October 2022, 10 of the 150 landowners affected by the airport's construction stated that they would not sell their land to the government. CEPA stated that they will seek to come to a settlement with the landowners, and Federico Anliker, the president of CEPA, accused them of being "manipulated" ("Spanish; Castilian: manipulados") by the country's opposition political parties to oppose the airport's construction.[21] In January 2023, Cristosal, a non-government organization, claimed that three laws regarding the airport's construction "open the door to corruption" ("Spanish; Castilian: abren la puerta a la corrupción") and called upon the Supreme Court of Justice to block the laws.[22]
In October 2021, the (MARN) advised CEPA to change the location of the Airport of the Pacific citing environmental concerns. MARN suggested moving the airport slightly to the northeast, as its planned location disrupted the habitats of several endangered species and was at risk of being submerged by rising sea levels. CEPA did not accept MARN's recommendation.[23]
The Indigenous Movement for the Integration of the Struggles of the Ancestral Peoples of El Salvador (MILPA) opposes the airport's construction, arguing that its construction violates the local people's right to private property and degrades the area's environment.
On 1 December 2024, Bukele stated that several airlines had made agreements with the government to fly from the United States to the Airport of the Pacific.