La Chinita International Airport

La Chinita International Airport is an international airport serving Maracaibo, the capital of Zulia. 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
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. (1960 diagram)

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.

Facilities
Runway 03L/21R length does not include a 300 m paved overrun on the north end. The Maracaibo VORTAC (Ident: MAR) is located 0.81 nmi northeast of the threshold of Runway 21R.

Accidents and incidents

 * On 1 November 1971, Vickers Viscount YV-C-AMZ of Linea Aeropostal Venezolana crashed shortly after take-off. All four people on board were killed.
 * On March 5, 1991, Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 108 crashed in to a nearby mountain soon after takeoff, killing all 45 passenger and crew.