La Chinita International Airport

Aeropuerto Internacional La Chinita
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorGovernment
ServesMaracaibo
LocationSan Francisco, Zulia
Opened16 November 1969; 55 years ago (1969-11-16)
Hub forVenezolana
Focus city forConviasa
Elevation AMSL235 ft / 72 m
Coordinates10°33′30″N 71°43′40″W / 10.55833°N 71.72778°W / 10.55833; -71.72778
Map
MAR is located in Venezuela
MAR
MAR
Location of the airport in Venezuela
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03L/21R 3,000 9,843 concrete
03R/21L 2,500 8,202 Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Passenger movements2,848,677
Sources:,[1] WAD,[2] Google Maps[3]

La Chinita International Airport (IATA: MAR, ICAO: SVMC) is an international airport serving Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia State, Venezuela. It is located southwest of Maracaibo proper in the municipality of San Francisco. La Chinita is Venezuela's second most important airport in terms of passenger and aircraft movements, after Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas.

History

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This airport construction was accelerated due to the accident of Viasa Flight 742 on 16 March 1969, resulting in the death of 155 people and the closure of Grano de Oro Airport, where the airport is located too close to the city centre and surrounded neighbourhoods.[4] The airport opened on 16 November 1969, during the administration of President Rafael Caldera, to open a gateway to the western part of the country and to alleviate congestion from Simón Bolívar International Airport, which manages about half of the international flights in Venezuela.[citation needed]

Facilities

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Runway 03L/21R length does not include a 300 metres (980 ft) paved overrun on the north end. The Maracaibo VORTAC (Ident: MAR) is located 0.81 nautical miles (1.50 km) northeast of the threshold of Runway 21R.[5]

Airlines and destinations

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Passenger

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AirlinesDestinations
Venezuela Avior Airlines Caracas
Venezuela Conviasa Cancún (begins July 6 2025),[6] Caracas, Maturín, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz
Venezuela Estelar Latinoamérica Caracas, Santa Barbara del Zulia
Venezuela LASER Airlines Caracas
Venezuela RUTACA Airlines Caracas
Venezuela Turpial Airlines Valencia (VE)
Venezuela Venezolana Caracas, Porlamar, Puerto Ordaz

Cargo

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AirlinesDestinations
Colombia Aerosucre Bogotá[7]

Accidents and incidents

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dirección de Operaciones
  2. ^ World Data Aero[usurped]
  3. ^ Google Maps - La Chinita
  4. ^ 1960 diagram
  5. ^ MAR VOR
  6. ^ "Conviasa announces new international flight connections: destinations and start dates". 2001 Live (in Spanish). May 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Rutas". Aerosucre.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  9. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 YV-23C Valera". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
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