Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport
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Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Alejandro Velasco Astete |
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Aerial overview of CUZ
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | CORPAC S.A. | ||||||||||
| Serves | Cusco | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 10,860 ft / 3,310 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 13°32′08″S 71°56′37″W / 13.53556°S 71.94361°WCoordinates: 13°32′08″S 71°56′37″W / 13.53556°S 71.94361°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www |
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| Map | |||||||||||
 CUZ
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| Statistics (2014) | |||||||||||
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| passengers | 2,485,859 |
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Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (IATA: CUZ, ICAO: SPZO) is an international airport located in the city of Cusco, in southeastern Peru. Cusco, a principal tourist attraction in Latin America, receives various domestic flights as well as some international flights. Its runways are completely paved. Currently, it operates at limited capacity due to its precarious location near the city's center. Despite these limitations, the airport has consistently ranked as Peru's second most important air terminal, handling 2,308,110 national and international passengers in 2013, as reported by CORPAC.
It was named in honor of the Peruvian pilot Alejandro Velasco Astete who was the first aeroplane pilot to cross the Andes in 1925. This first flight was from Lima directly to Cusco. Later that year, in September, while trying to avoid crashing into spectators at an airshow in the city of Puno he crashed and was killed. In recognition of his pioneering achievements in Peruvian aviation history, the airport was named in his honor.
Previously, the airport was served by American Airlines on a JFK-LIM-CUZ-LIM-JFK routing in the late 90s (1998–1999) using Boeing 757-200 aircraft. However, these flights were discontinued due to a number of factors, including the airport's limited services and facilities as well as the Peruvian government's refusal to grant passenger transportation rights between Lima and Cuzco. American still holds the rights to this route and can resume flights at the company's discretion.
On February 3, 2017, President Kuczynski announced the beginning of the construction of the new Chinchero International Airport, which will be located in the suburb of Chinchero, 30 minutes from Cusco city. It is estimated that the new airport, will be completed by 2021 when Velasco Astete Airport will be closed. It is expected to receive up to 6 million passengers upon its opening.
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