A closer look at the airport business travelers rank
BY PHIL GUNSON
CARACAS -- Perched in a narrow valley, 800 meters (0.5 miles) up in Venezuela’s coastal range, and separated from the Caribbean sea by mountains that rise to over 2,600 meters, Caracas is poorly endowed with suitable sites for an accessible airport. For more than half a century, it has relied on Maiquetia (officially,
Just how vulnerable that link is to disasters, both natural and man-made, was made abundantly clear in 2006, when one of the main viaducts on the route collapsed, forcing an average 50,000 vehicles a day onto a narrow, hastily-built by-pass and frequently turning what should be a 45-minute journey into a four- or five-hour nightmare.
A new viaduct was opened in June 2007, but the problem is far from solved. The four kilometres of highway closest to
In ranking Maiquetia the region’s worst airport, readers of Latin Trade gave it the poorest marks for Location/Access as well as Customs/Baggage, Ease of Connection and Shops/Amenities.