Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport
| Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Puerto Rico Ports Authority | ||||||||||
| Serves | Isla De Vieques, Puerto Rico | ||||||||||
| Hub for | VAL | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 49 ft / 15 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 18°08′05″N 065°29′37″W / 18.13472°N 65.49361°WCoordinates: 18°08′05″N 065°29′37″W / 18.13472°N 65.49361°W | ||||||||||
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 VQS
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| Aircraft operations | 19,450 |
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| Based aircraft | 19 |
| Passengers (2010) | 165,043 |
Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (IATA: VQS, ICAO: TJVQ, FAA LID: VQS) is a small public use airport on the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico. Because a large amount of Vieques's yearly revenue comes from the tourism industry, this small airport plays an important part in Vieques's economic outlook. The airport has been for decades the hub of Vieques Air Link, and also a landing facility for a number of small airlines.
As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 21,517 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2008, 20,759 enplanements in 2009, and 46,267 in 2010. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).
When anti-military demonstrators started flocking into Vieques, both by air and sea, in 1999, Vieques Airport saw a considerable increase to its normal yearly average of passengers. In addition, many celebrities who travelled from all over Puerto Rico and the rest of Latin America to join the protesters arrived at Vieques through this airport. When Carla Tricoli, a Vieques native, won the 2002 Miss Puerto Rico contest, her first flight as a beauty queen landed at Vieques Airport.
The airport does not accept jet aircraft, but a couple of international flights operate from it. Most of the commercial aviation operations are concentrated on domestic flights such as Vieques to Ceiba, Vieques to Isla Grande Airport in San Juan and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, a suburb of San Juan. Air ambulance flights to Fajardo and San Juan are also available.
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