In a ceremony held at the terminal on the night of May 19, Palmerola International Airport announced that it received the corresponding authorizations to operate in the «24/7» mode, which enables it to operate night flights.
On June 1st at 22:00, the airport will receive an Avianca flight from El Salvador, returning the following morning.
According to what was published by the airport in its social networks, the executive president of the Airports Division of Emco Group, Peter Fleming, said that «this is good news for Palmerola International Airport, we finally have all government agencies, decentralized institutions, and airlines, among others, ready to start with the night operation, returning the airport operational 24/7».
«The entire lighting system for night operation was installed since December last year, and we obtained certification in January. However, adjustments and coordination had to be made at the level of Customs, Immigration, Border Police, among other entities that make possible the operation of the terminal, and today we are ready to receive the flight on June 1. A very important achievement for the country», he added.
In the first week of July, the second night operation will be added, when a Copa Airlines flight will spend the night at the airport’s apron, which expects to add other operations in the near future.
Palmerola International Airport was developed on part of the space occupied by the José Enrique Soto Cano Air Base, headquarters of U.S. Joint Task Force Bravo, located 6 kilometers south of the city of Comayagua, about 70 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa.
It is intended to serve as the main international gateway by air to the Honduran capital, replacing the current Toncontín airport, which will serve only domestic and regional flights, given its operational limitations.
The new passenger terminal has a covered surface area of almost 40,000 square meters on three levels and has 13 boarding gates (7 with handles and 6 for remote positions), 40 check-in counters, 17 self-check-in stations, 34 immigration control stations and 45 commercial premises.
The project, which involved an investment of over USD 200 million, was carried out by the German-Honduran consortium EMCO-Flughafen München, also operator of the Toncontín airport.
