Mataveri International Airport or Isla de Pascua Airport (IATA: IPC, ICAO: SCIP) is at Hanga Roa on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (Isla de Pascua in Spanish). The most remote airport in the world (defined as distance to another airport), it is 2,336 miles (3,759 km) from Santiago, Chile (SCL) which has scheduled flights to it on the Chilean carrier LATAM Chile. The runway starts just inland from the island’s southeast coast at Mataveri, and nearly reaches the west coast, almost separating the mountain of Rano Kau from the rest of the island. The airport is the main point of entry for thousands of tourists who come to Easter Island to see its Moai statues. It has a transit lounge used by passengers continuing to or returning from Papeete, Tahiti, which is also serviced by LATAM.

Mataveri International Airport Isla de Pascua Airport
IATA: IPC ICAO: SCIP
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Operator	FACH – Fuerza Aérea de Chile (Chilean Air Force)
Location	Mataveri
Elevation AMSL	227 ft / 69 m
Coordinates	27°09′53″S 109°25′18″W
Website	mataverinternational.com
Map
IPC Location of airport in Pacific Ocean
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 3,305 10,843 Asphalt

History

Scheduled services from the Chilean mainland started in 1967 with a monthly Douglas DC-6B propliner flight operated by LAN-Chile that took nine hours, using a runway extended and paved for the use as a U.S. base. In 1970, services were upgraded with weekly Boeing 707-320 nonstop jet service to Santiago, Chile and Papeete, Tahiti (PPT). Nonstop service to Papeete had been added earlier during the late 1960s using a DC-6B and the frequency then doubled to twice-weekly with LAN-Chile providing direct connecting 707 service once a week between Easter Island and Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid in Europe via its Santiago hub. By 1975, LAN-Chile had extended its Tahiti route flown once a week with a 707 to Nadi, Fiji (NAN). LAN-Chile then replaced its Boeing 707 flights with Boeing 767-200ER jet service and in 1993 was operating twice weekly round trip flights on a routing of Santiago (SCL) – Easter Island (IPC) – Papeete (PPT). The airline later operated Airbus A340 and Boeing 767-300ER wide body jetliners into the airport.

The airport’s single runway is 3,318 m (10,885 ft) long. The airport was once designated as an abort site for the U.S. Space Shuttle when polar orbital flights from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California were planned with this space launch activity then subsequently being cancelled. The project undertaken by NASA to lengthen the runway was completed in 1987 and enabled wide-bodied jets to use the airport, which further boosted tourism to the island.

Due to the lack of diversion airports between PPT (Tahiti) and South America except for IPC, the Chilean CAA prohibits more than one aircraft from the vicinity of IPC. Once an aircraft flying from South America is more than at the halfway point between South America and IPC, no other aircraft can be closer than the halfway point until the first aircraft successfully lands at IPC. This is because if an aircraft should have an accident that obstructs or closes the runway, other aircraft cannot land at IPC and would have to turn back.

The Isla de Pascua VOR-DME (Ident: IPA) and non-directional beacon (Ident: IPA) are located on the field. Also, an Instrument Landing System(ILS) is available for precision approaches for runway 10 (roughly west-east bound)

There is a hill adjacent to the eastern end of the runway. Approach and departures to either end of the runway are over the water.

Airlines and destinations

LATAM Chile currently operates Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-8 aircraft to the island on its scheduled services.

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