La Paz International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de La Paz); officially Aeropuerto Internacional Manuel Márquez de León (Manuel Márquez de León International Airport) (IATA: LAP, ICAO: MMLP) is an international airport located in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, situated along the western shore of the Gulf of California. It serves as the primary air traffic gateway to the city of La Paz and is a focus city for the regional airline Calafia Airlines. The airport also accommodates military facilities for the Mexican Army and the Mexican Navy and supports various tourism, flight training, and general aviation activities.
La Paz International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional de La Paz | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico | ||||||||||
| Serves | La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico | ||||||||||
| Focus city for | Calafia Airlines | ||||||||||
| Time zone | MST (UTC-07:00) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 21 m / 69 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 24°04′21″N 110°21′44″W / 24.07250°N 110.36222°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  LAP Location of the airport in Baja California Sur  LAP LAP (Mexico) | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Source: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico[1] | |||||||||||
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico owns and operates the airport, and it is named in honor of Manuel Márquez de León, a Mexican politician, military leader, and intellectual originally from this state.[2] The airport served as the headquarters and hub for Aero California from its foundation in 1960 until its bankruptcy in 2006.[3][4]
The airport offers nonstop flights to many major cities in Mexico and numerous airports in Northwestern Mexico. It plays a significant role in a heavily traveled air corridor connecting the Baja California Peninsula to the mainland Mexico states of Sinaloa and Sonora. In 2022, the airport handled 1,079,600 passengers, marking the first time it reached the milestone of one million passengers in a year. Traffic increased to 1,115,800 passengers in 2023.[1]
Facilities
edit
The airport has a main runway 18/36 which is 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) long. The passenger terminal houses both arrival and departure facilities for domestic and international flights within a building with an area of 5,180 square metres (55,800 sq ft). It provides typical services found at a regional airport, including check-in counters for domestic and international flights, VIP lounges, parking areas, car rental services, taxi stands, and a departure concourse with three gates. The apron has nine stands capable of accommodating narrow-body aircraft. Additionally, the airport supports logistics and courier companies and has a separate terminal dedicated to general and executive aviation.
Air Force Base No. 9 (Spanish: Base Aérea Militar No. 9 La Paz, B.C.S.) (BAM-9) is situated to the west of the runway 18 end. This base includes an apron measuring 140 by 65 metres (459 by 213 ft), two hangars, and facilities for Mexican Air Force personnel. This air base is the home of Squadron 203, which currently operates Pilatus PC-7 Turbo Trainer aircraft.[5][6]
.jpg)
La Paz Airport also accommodates La Paz Naval Air Base (Spanish: Base Aeronaval de La Paz), situated to the north of BAM-9. This base includes hangars, aircraft stands, and military facilities owned by the Mexican Navy. These facilities are also home to the School of Naval Aviation, which is part of the Center for Naval Aeronautical Studies.[7]
La Paz Naval Air Base hosts the following units:
- 2nd Patrol Naval Air Squadron – operating RC695, Lancair IV-P
- 2nd Air Mobility, Observation and Transport Naval Air Squadron – operating Mi-8
- 2nd Shipborne Patrol Naval Air Squadron – operating Bo 105CBS-5
- 2nd Transport Naval Air Squadron – operating An-32B
Airlines and destinations
editPassenger
edit| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aéreo Servicio Guerrero | Ciudad Constitución, Ciudad Obregón, Guerrero Negro, Los Mochis, San José del Cabo |
| Aeroméxico | Mexico City |
| Aeroméxico Connect | Mexico City |
| Alaska Airlines | Los Angeles (begins November 20, 2024)[8] |
| TAR | Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Hermosillo, Mazatlán, Querétaro |
| Viva | Culiacán, Guadalajara, Mexico City–AIFA (begins May 22, 2025),[9] Monterrey,1 Tijuana (begins May 22, 2025)[10] |
| Volaris | Guadalajara, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Monterrey, Tijuana |
Notes
edit^1 Viva flight to Monterrey makes a stopover in Culiacán.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Destinations map
edit  La Paz Domestic destinations from La Paz International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination |
Statistics
editPassengers
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Busiest routes
edit| Rank | City | Passengers | Ranking | Airline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jalisco, Guadalajara
|
164,890 |  1
|
Calafia Airlines, Viva Aerobus, Volaris |
| 2 |  Mexico City, Mexico City
|
157,679 |  1
|
Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, Viva Aerobus, Volaris |
| 3 |  Baja California, Tijuana
|
110,685 | 
|
Calafia Airlines, Volaris |
| 4 |  Sinaloa, Culiacán
|
35,912 |
|
Calafia Airlines, TAR, Viva Aerobus |
| 5 | Mexico City, Mexico City-AIFA
|
27,689 | 
|
Volaris |
| 6 | Sinaloa, Mazatlán
|
11,474 | 1
|
Calafia Airlines, TAR, Viva Aerobus |
| 7 |  Sonora, Hermosillo
|
10,302 | 1
|
Calafia Airlines, TAR |
| 8 |  Nuevo León, Monterrey
|
7,136 | 1
|
Viva Aerobus, Volaris |
| 9 |  Guanajuato, León/El Bajío
|
4,817 |
|
Volaris |
| 10 | Sinaloa, Los Mochis
|
4,736 | 3
|
Calafia Airlines |
See also
edit- List of the busiest airports in Mexico
- List of airports in Mexico
- List of airports by ICAO code: M
- List of busiest airports in North America
- List of the busiest airports in Latin America
- Transportation in Mexico
- Tourism in Mexico
- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
- List of beaches in Mexico
- Jacques Cousteau Island
- Gulf of California
- List of Mexican military installations
- Mexican Air Force
- Mexican Naval Aviation
References
edit- ^ a b "GAP Traffic Report 2023" (PDF). Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico. January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "About the airport".
- ^ "Aero California website". Archived from the original on 12 February 2008.
- ^ "Aero California 1992 Route Map".
- ^ "Bases Aéreas. Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional".
- ^ "BAM Número Nueve (Baja California Sur)".
- ^ "Escuela de Aviación Naval".
- ^ "Alaska Airlines launches historic routes to La Paz and Monterrey, Mexico from Los Angeles". Alaska Airlines. July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ "Flights from La Paz". Viva Aerobus (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Viva Aerobus launches 4 new routes from Tijuana". EnElAire (in Spanish). August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ "Estadística operacional por origen-destino / Traffic Statistics by City Pairs" (in Spanish). Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
External links
edit
Media related to La Paz International Airport at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
- La Paz Airport information at Great Circle Mapper
- Aeronautical chart and airport information for MMLP at SkyVector
- Current weather for MMLP at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for LAP at Aviation Safety Network
- #GoLaPaz
- Tourist guide of La Paz
