Airport Alfredo Vasquez Cobo

Airport Leticia

Letica airport is a small airport. The IATA code is LET. 3 airlines fly here at the airport. The airport lies 95 meter above sea level.

History Airport Leticia

The aviation in Leticia was until 1948 through an amphibian airplane. The plane landed on the river to wish Leticia was located. There was until then not a real airport in Leticia. In 1950 the Air Force of Colombia began to build an airport. In Panama an asphalt plant was obtained for a nice price. The asphalt plant and 200,000 gallons of liquid asphalt went by boat past Brazil and through the Amazon to Leticia. Before the mouth of the Amazon River was reached the boat came in a storm. The boat was damaged, it was necessary to ditch the asphalt plant so the boat would arrive. There was a runway constructed of 900 meters and was extended in 1952 to 1300 meters which can handle the size aircraft of an DC3.

In 1955, new plans to further expand the airport where made. Near the construction site not a stone to found for the runway. Stone for the runway could be found almost 2500 kilometers further. Due to the high transport costs nearly 3 million bricks were sun-dried bricks where made from river clay. There were special houses built for the stone so that also could dry during the rainy season. This expansion made it possible to handle aircraft of a size DC4. The stones of the terminal came from Cartagena. These were brought by a navy ship during the annual navigation exercises. The airport was given it’s international status after the renovation to ensure promotion of the region.
From 1955 to 1972 the runway is in continuous maintenance by the large amounts of rain that falls on Amazon.

In 1972 the runway is extended to 2 km long and a width of 40 meters. There is this need for nearly 50,000 m3 of sand stabilized with cement. It is the first time in Colombia that this method was used. The sand was imported from Brazil, the cement arrived by boat from Barranquilla and the asphalt material came from Barrancabermeja by truck and by boat for the last bit. During the renovation also the taxiways for the aircraft, the terminal and the access road are renovated.

Airport Leticia nowadays

Airport Leticia

Currently, the market leader in the Amazon is AeroRepublica with an Embraer 190. Satena is also present in Leticia. Airport Leticia Vasquez Cobo is on the 24th place of the main airports in the country and in 2008 it processed a total of 93,000 passengers. Aires is the new airline that regularly flies a Boeing 737-700 to Leticia and it is expected that this new series of chairs at affordable prices is an increase in domestic and foreign tourists. The opportunities for ecotourism in the region is booming and expected continued growth in favor of the capital of the department.