Airports - March April 2015

FEATURE
LA PAZ
A busy La
Paz apron in the
late afternoon
is overlooked by
Illampu Mountain,
Bolivia’s fourth
highest peak. (All
photos author)
La Paz
Holding the High Ground
Sebastian Schmitz visits the world’s highest
international airport – El Alto in La Paz, Bolivia.
A
landing at El Alto International
Airport (LPB), 8 miles (13km)
from and about 1,500ft (450m)
above the Bolivian city of La Paz,
is a truly breathtaking experience. When
arriving from the east, aircraft overfly the
city, which sits in a deep canyon. From the
west, one may glimpse Lake Titicaca and
the beautiful and eerie landscape of the
Altiplano high plains, before seeing the
simple brick buildings and many small
churches in the not-so-wealthy suburb
of El Alto.
Thin air
After touchdown, it is a wise to take things
slowly due to the thin air. El Alto (which
means ‘the high one’) is the world’s highest
international airport – at an elevation of
13,325ft (4,061m). It was, for many years,
the highest airport in the world. The honour
now rests with China’s Daocheng Yading
Airport at 14,472ft (4,411m) above sea level.
During the 1980s, Lufthansa used to fly to
El Alto with Boeing 747-200s (and before
that the 707), although only on a shuttle
service from Lima. A now retired Lufthansa
purser and friend of the author remembers
vividly how both passengers and crew were
greeted by ground staff carrying oxygen
bottles as travellers arriving from sea level
would often collapse or feel very weak in the
rarefied air. Today, there is even an oxygen
bar in the terminal where passengers can
take a deep breath or two.
The airport’s altitude has been a limiting
factor throughout its existence. Even
though its main Runway 10/28 is quite
long at 13,123ft (4,000m), non-stop longhaul
flights are out of the question for the
time being. Thin air prevents maximum
weight departures, meaning aircraft have
to carry less fuel. The high altitude can also
be a reason for unusual visitors. Aircraft
manufacturer Airbus chose LPB, along with
Cochabamba, for a series of high-altitude
tests of its new A350 in January last year.
Regional traffic
Although LPB is Bolivia’s busiest passenger
airport, the number of international routes
is limited, compared to Santa Cruz/Viru Viru
(VVI). The difference between the two is
almost 12,000ft (3,658m) of altitude. Being
much closer to sea level means VVI receives
the bulk of the country’s international flights.
However, some international traffic does use
La Paz, mostly to neighbouring countries.
The longest flight to LPB is American
Airlines’ daily service from Miami, flown
by a 757. The schedule is actually a Miami-
La Paz-Santa Cruz-Miami triangular one,
enabling the return flight to be direct from
Santa Cruz with no weight penalties. The
airport’s most important international route
is to the Peruvian capital Lima, around two
hours flying time. Between Avianca and
LAN, there are up to three daily flights to
Lima, some go via Santa Cruz purely for
commercial reasons. Avianca has a daily
Peru
Bolivia
Argentina
Brazil
Airbus A319 connection to its hub in Bogotá,
with an early departure time of 04:25. The
flight continues to Washington DC, using
the same flight number, catering for the
large Bolivian community living in Virginia.
Peruvian Airlines launched flights to La
Paz in October last year, offering a daily
737 connection from Cuzco and Lima. Two
carriers provide services to Chile; LAN from
Santiago de Chile four times a week (using
A320s), with a stop in Iquique in the north of
the country. Chile’s Sky Airline (see Airliner
World, April 2015) has a daily A320 service
which routes via Iquique and Arica, close
to the Chilean-Peruvian border. The only
Bolivian carrier offering an international
flight is locally based Amaszonas. It runs a
daily Bombardier CRJ link to the Peruvian
city of Cuzco which, on three days of the
week, goes via Arequipa.
Domestic network
Bolivia’s busiest domestic route is between
La Paz and VVI. Boliviana de Aviación
(BoA), which runs its international flights
from the latter, has nine daily weekday 737
flights between the two cities. Boliviana also
serves Cochabamba as well as Tarija and
Cobija. All remaining domestic destinations
can be reached via Cochabamba or
Santa Cruz. With the airline soon
introducing Chinese-built Xian
MA-60 turboprops, the number
of destinations and frequencies
is likely to grow.
54 airports of the world