Toncontín International Airport
IATA: TGU – ICAO: MHTG
Summary
Airport type		Military/Public
Owner/Operator		InterAirports
Serves		Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Location		Tegucigalpa
Hub for		AVIAC CM Airlines
Elevation AMSL		3,294 ft / 1,004 m
Coordinates		14°03′39″N 087°13′02″W / 14.06083°N 87.21722°W / 14.06083; -87.21722
Website		http://www.interairports.hn/tnt.htm
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
02/20	2,163	7,096	Asphalt

Toncontín International Airport (IATA: TGU, ICAO: MHTG) is a civil and military airport that serves Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is 6 km away from the center of Tegucigalpa.

Toncontín

An American Airlines Boeing 757 landing at Toncontín

The airport's single runway is 2,163 m (7,096 feet) in length, and is at an altitude of 1,004 m (3,294 feet). Boeing 757s are the largest aircraft that normally land at Toncontín, as it has one of the shortest international runways in the world. However, larger aircraft have occasionally landed in Toncontín, such as a DC-8 on a mission with Orbis International in 1987; and a C-17 Globemaster in 2008 and 2009.

During the Football War of 1969, Toncontín was a major target for the Salvadoran Air Force, and it was bombed on several occasions.

Toncontín International Airport has 4 gates (2 in the new terminal), 2 baggage claim belts, 150 short term parking spaces, a post office, a bank, a bureau de change, many restaurants, several airline lounges, a duty free shop, car rental services and a first aid room. The old terminal is undergoing renovation, and will be used for domestic flights in the future. The new terminal is now used for international flights.

Toncontín is also the home of the Aeroclub de Honduras (Honduran Air Club).

The airport has received much criticism for being one of the most dangerous in the world due to its proximity to the mountains, and for years efforts have been made to replace it with Soto Cano airport in Comayagua, currently an airbase. Toncontín has however been significantly improved by the work of ACT (the Airport Corporation of Tegucigalpa) and by InterAirports, a company contracted by the Honduran government to administer the country's four major airports. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports, ranks it as the 2nd most dangerous airport in the world.

History

The Bristol plane piloted by Capitain Ivan Lamb, Toncontin, 1920

The first terminal building at Toncontin in 1940

Since the nineteenth century, the plains south of Tegucigalpa became known as the "Potrero Los Llanos", part of a farm adjoining the farm Loarque. In these areas political events took place. Here Jose Santos Guardiola defeated General Trinidad Cabanas, seizing the presidency of Honduras. "El Llano" as it was known is to the south end of Comayagüela. On a road to the south, the field that served for the takeoff and landing of aircraft is located. Currently, the Hernan Acosta Mejia (HAM) Air Force base is located there. The first landing was in 1921 when a single-engine plane from the "Bristol Aeroplane Company" landed with Captain Dean Ivan Lamb in command. He was received by many people, including beautiful "Damita" society, as well as President Rafael López Gutiérrez who broke a bottle of champagne on one of the aircraft's propellers.

Sahsa DC-3 in front of Toncontín's old terminal, 1945

The origin of the name Toncontín is unknown, but experts say that is a word derived from the Nahuatl word "Tocotín", the name of an ancient and sacred dance of Yucatan, Mexico.

The Aviator Luigi Venditti conducted several flights using the natural floodplain from Toncontín. Jose Villa, an Italian national, was another precursor of Honduran aviation. He conducted flights from Toncontín. So did Starnaivola, Enrique Massi, Ball, and Clarence H. Brown.

The civil war in 1924 caused Tiburcio Carías to realize that aviation had a great future in Honduras, providing an ideal transport solution for a mountainous country, as well as being a strategic military weapon. For these reasons and with the growth of commercial aviation and the emergence of the Honduran Air Force, General Tiburcio Carias, then in power, acquired in 1933 the land that was to become the airport. On January 5, 1934 the airport was inaugurated with the landing of a DC-3 from Pan American World Airways. Months later TACA opened "Hotel Toncontín" to accommodate passengers in transit, and Pan-Am built a hangar.

Temporary removal of international flights

Taca Airbus A320 landing at Toncontin

On May 30, 2008, a serious runway accident prompted the announcement by then Honduran President Manuel Zelaya that all large aircraft operations would move to the Soto Cano Air Base. This move would effectively move all international traffic from Toncontín, limiting its use to only domestic flights and small aircraft.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) completed a review of Toncontín and made safety recommendations regarding the airport. On June 25, 2008, President Zelaya reiterated his position of severely restricting international traffic to and from Toncontín and announced his intention to form a commission that will oversee implementing the safety recommendations of the ICAO report.

On July 7, 2008, President Zelaya announced the reopening of the airport at a news conference following a three-hour meeting with businessmen, who had demanded commercial flights resume at Toncontín. Zelaya reiterated that all commercial flights will eventually use the new airport being built at Soto Cano Air Base and it was expected to be finished in 2009.

Airlines and destinations

A Copa Airlines Boeing 737-700 at Toncontín

Cargo Airlines

Accidents and incidents

Airbus A320, Flight 390 from TACA

• In 1982, a Douglas DC-9 was hijacked on a flight for the Venezuelan airline Aeropostal. The plane landed at Toncontín during the night and the kidnappers exchanged the passengers for fuel and left them in the terminal. The next day, another DC-9 collected the passengers.

• On October 21, 1989, Tan-Sahsa Flight 414 a Boeing 727-200 airliner crashed into a nearby hill, killing 127 people on board.

• On April 1, 1997, a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane overshot the runway at Toncontín and rolled 200 yards before bursting into flames on a major boulevard, killing three people aboard.

• On May 30, 2008, an Airbus A320 operated by Grupo TACA, Flight 390, overran the runway in approach to Tegucigalpa Airport. The accident was partly blamed on bad weather conditions. Five people died in the incident. According to black box recordings and a report from the NTSB, the cause of the accident was a human error by the pilot, who died in the crash,, who landed 900 meters (0.5 miles) beyond the landing marks and in the wrong direction (the tower had ordered the opposite way).

Toncontín today

Aerial view of Toncontin International Airport

• The Honduran government has announced plans to relocate commercial airline traffic to Soto Cano Air Base.
• TACA airlines "Grupo TACA" could not operate in Toncontín and apparently the rest of the country's airports because of a state debt to Honduras, but on May 20, 2009; Taca said that the problems with Honduras were done.
• Personnel at the airport has finally decided to make use of masks and other measures to prevent the H1N1 since the number of cases has risen to 34 in the country and airports are the most vulnerable point of entry of the disease.
• A year after the crash of TACA Flight 390 at Toncontín airport, which killed five people, business owners near the site of the tragedy complain that have not been compensated.
• Honduras ousted ex-president Manuel Zelaya said that, Tegucigalpa, the capital of the country, will benefit from the construction of the Palmerola airport, while others claim that this was an attempt to close Toncontín.
• The direction of Civil Aeronautics of Honduras temporarily suspended the license of operations to "Islena Airlines" joined to the Taca El Salvador group, for a delay of about 37 million of lempiras, leaving in crisis the service of internal flights in the country.
• In May 2009, a 984 ft extension was completed on south end of the runway, increasing the length of the runway from 6112 ft to its current 7096 ft. The extension is helpful for take offs, and rare landings from the north, however it is debatable whether it will assist with standard landings from the south due to the proximity to nearby mountains.
• On July 5, 2009, the airport was closed to all flights and the airspace in and around Toncontín was very restricted due to the planned arrival of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya. Zelaya's private Venezuelan jet was not given landing clearance by the Civil Aviations Authority at Toncontín and the military blocked the single runway with vehicles and troops. The plane was then diverted to Managua, Nicaragua
• Due the bombing attempt by Al-Qaeda to Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, December 25, 2009; the security at the airport has been improved by putting undercover police surveillance as civilians.
• On January 27, 2010, Honduran ex-president Manuel Zelaya and his family, left the country after 120 days of being at the Brazilian Embassy, they left at 2:45 P.M. from Toncontin International Airport, to the Dominican Republic, where he will hold a trial against the people who ran the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, thousands of hondurans were present outside of the airport at the moment Zelaya left the country.

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
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