Airport Rafael Nunez

The airport of Cartagena is called Rafael Nuñez. It has a runway of 2600 meters. The IATA code is CTG.

History

It was in Cartagena, where the first steps of the Colombian aviation were put. At the end of 1919 2 entrepreneurs agreed to import a Farman aircraft. There was only one problem. The unit came in parts to Colombia. They immediately started building a 30 meters wide palm hangar. It stood near what is now called BocaGrande. They started in 1920 the company "Compañía Colombiana DE Navegación AÉREA" . In 1920, the first flight was heading to Barranquilla. This ensured that even in Barranquilla they begun to build an airport. In 1930, SCADTA opened an airport on the island of Manzanillo. In 1939 SCADTA changed the name to Avianca. In 1947, a new airline "LANSA" build a airport in near Crespo. It has a runway 1600 meters long and a 2nd of 930 meters in a right angle to this. Around the 50s Avianca buys Lansa and moved its operations into the Crespo airport. The airport in Manzanillo got closed. A few years after buying the airport, the airport sold to the government. This changed in 1986 the name to Rafael Nuñez Airport. In 1996, the airport is again privatized. It was then sold to a cooperation of Colombian companies and Aena from spain. The name of the administrator is Aeroportuaria Sociedad de la Costa SA and has the management for 15 years in hands.