Silvio Pettirossi International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Silvio Pettirossi International Airport
nativename = Aeropuerto Internacional de Asunción Silvio Pettirossi

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image-width =
caption = Front view of ASU Terminal
IATA = ASU
ICAO = SGAS
type = Public
owner =
operator =
city-served = Asuncion
location = Luque, Asuncion
elevation-f = 291
elevation-m = 89
coordinates = coord|25|14|23|S|057|31|09|W|type:airport
website = [http://www.dinac.gov.py/aeropuertos/aeropuertos_spasu.php/ www.dinac.gov.py]
metric-elev = yes
metric-rwy = yes
r1-number = 02L/20R
r1-length-f = 11,000
r1-length-m = 3,353
r1-surface = Asphalt/Concrete
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =

Silvio Pettirossi International Airport Airport codes|ASU|SGAS is Paraguay's main national and international gateway, located at Luque, suburb of the capital Asunción.

The airport serves as hub for TAM Paraguayan Airlines and newly created airline Regional Paraguaya [es [http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?pid=417053&fec=2008-05-21 Nueva aerolinea operarara en Paraguay] from Diario ABC Color.] .

Name

The airport is named after the Paraguayan aviator Silvio Pettirossi. It was formerly known as Presidente Stroessner International Airport, after Paraguay's former dictator General Alfredo Stroessner.

Airlines

Note: The terminal building splits into domestic and international concourses, with 2 and 4 gates respectively. However, the airport currently receives only one domestic flight, handled at the International Concourse.

Domestic Concourse (Gates 1 - 2)

*Cargo and Charter flights
*General aviation

International Concourse (Gates 3 - 6)

*Aerolineas Argentinas (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Corrientes, Resistencia)
*Aerosur (Santa Cruz de la Sierra)
*Gol (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Curitiba, São Paulo-Guarulhos)
*PLUNA (Montevideo [restarts October 29] )
*Regional Paraguaya (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza [begins November 1] , Ciudad del Este [begins November 1] , Santa Cruz de la Sierra [begins November 3] , Santiago [begins November 1] , Sao Paulo-Guarulhos [begins November 1] )
*TACA
**TACA Peru (Lima [begins December 15] , Montevideo [begins December 16] )
*TAM Paraguayan Airlines (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Ciudad del Este, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Montevideo, Punta del Este [seasonal] , Florianópolis [seasonal] , Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Cochabamba, Santiago de Chile)

Formerly serving airlines

Domestic

*flagicon|Paraguay Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas
*flagicon|Paraguay ARPA - Aerolineas Paraguayas (merged with TAM Mercosur)

International

*flagicon|Chile LAN Airlines
*flagicon|Chile Ladeco
*flagicon|Spain Iberia (see below)
*flagicon|Peru Aeroperu
*flagicon|Bolivia Lloyd Aereo Boliviano
*flagicon|Brazil Varig
*flagicon|Germany Lufthansa
*flagicon|USA American Airlines (see below)
*flagicon|USA Eastern Airlines
*flagicon|USA Braniff International

American Airlines

In December 2005, American Airlines announced that it would end flights to Asunción from São Paulo and Miami after fifteen years of service because the route was no longer profitable. [ [http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1134769270.html American Airlines To Pull Out Of Paraguay] from "AirWise News" 15/12/2005] This made the city one of the few Latin American capitals that the airline does not fly to.

However, in September 13, 2007, Paraguay's Civil Aeronautical National Authority (DINAC, Direccion Nacional de Aeronautica Civil) announced that talks with American Airlines were in process, in order to resume flights to Asuncion.

Iberia

In 1996 Iberia ended all flights from Madrid via Sao Paulo. However, in May 202008, after engaging talks, Paraguay's DINAC authorities announced that negotiations between Iberia and DINAC were advanced, and that the airline would resume flights [es [http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?pid=417047&fec=2008-05-21&ABCDIGITAL=f8ac0d88a7f98692765e865bd3f46787 Iberia, a punto de volver a Paraguay] from Diario ABC Color] .

candal

In August 3 2008, local newspaper Diario ABC Color reported that aeronautical officers of Silvio Pettirossi Intl. Airport were making advantage of their positions at the airport by creating fake companies of aircraft handling services [es [http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?fec=2008-08-03&pid=438064&sec=3 Crean firmas fantasmas para despachar aeronaves en el aeropuerto, denuncian] from Diario ABC Color.] , and thus violating safety operational guidances and procedures.

The newspaper reported that these claims had been dennounced to DINAC on August 1. Diario ABC Color reported that several DINAC officers were involved in this scandal, as the note appeared after claims from the Flight Service Internacional agency.

Incidents and accidents

* On October 1 2008, at 07:00 AM local time, an Airbus 340 of Air Comet flight en-route to Santiago's Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport had an emergency landing due to a broken windshield. [es [http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?pid=368878&ABCDIGITAL=22ff4792da27a1b73aa7459331ca0342 Aterrizaje de emergencia en aeropuerto de Paraguay] from Diario ABC Color.] The aircraft was carrying 227 passengers from Spain; most of which were accommodated at a local hotel of the capital Asuncion.
* On August 5 2008, a twin-engine small plane carrying Paraguay's Minister of Agriculture, Cándido Vera Bejarano, and Luis Ortigoza, a top memeber of local Liberal Party, almost brought about a tragedy when folding itself its undercarriage after touch-down on the runway of Pettirossi airport. The incident mobilized the security system and forced to declare alert III. [es [http://www.abc.com.py/articulos.php?fec=2008-08-06&pid=439040&sec=6 Avión que transportaba a futuro ministro casi provoca tragedia] from Diario ABC Color.] The incident occurred nearly 18:24 hrs. local time, when the aircraft with matriculation ZP TET, property of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, touched down the airport's runway, after returning from Pilar's Carlos Miguel Jiménez Airport. The small plane was piloted by Gerardo López. All three people on board were safe, although one of the plane's wings made contact with the runway's asphalt.

References

External links

*es [http://www.dinac.gov.py/aeropuertos/aeropuertos_spasu.php Silvio Pettirossi International Airport]
* [http://www.azworldairports.com/airports/p2280asu.htm A-Z World Airports Online - Asuncion - Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (ASU/SGAS)]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=057%C2%B0+31%27+09%22+W+25%C2%B0+14%27+23%22+S&ll=-25.234758,-57.518921&spn=0.070186,0.21698&t=k Google Map of ASU]