Rafael Hernández Airport

For other uses of the name Rafael Hernández, see Rafael Hernández (disambiguation).

Rafael Hernández Airport
Passenger Terminal
IATA: BQN ICAO: TJBQ FAA LID: BQN
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Puerto Rico Ports Authority
Serves	Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Location	Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Elevation AMSL	237 ft / 72 m
Coordinates	18°29′42″N 67°7′46″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 8/26 11,702 3,567 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2009)
Aircraft Operations 71,540 Passenger Movement 461,506 (2009) Based aircraft 106
Source: Federal Aviation Administration Source: Puerto Rico Ports Authority

Rafael Hernández Airport (IATA: BQN, ICAO: TJBQ, FAA LID: BQN) is a fast-growing airport located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín. The airport is the second international airport in Puerto Rico in the region of Porta del Sol, Puerto Rico's west coast.

Rafael Hernandez Airport mainly serves Puerto Rican westerners living in the Eastern Region of the United States. The airport serves as focus city to PAWA Dominicana.

In the past, the airport has been served by major carriers like Capitol Air, Pan Am1, Kiwi Airlines, TWA, American Airlines, Delta Connection, to mention a few. Mostly due to little planning, research or advertising, some of these services have been suspended. Other services have been discontinued as part of the airlines restructuring plan, or as a result of airlines going out of business.

History

The airport has been long associated with the adjacent military base, Ramey Air Force Base. It used to receive domestic commercial flights by Prinair as well as service from JFK International Airport in New York City with Capitol Air [1], and 707 passenger flights from Miami with Southeast Airlines [2]. It is also noted for being the place that large clothing company Wrangler uses to land their planes filled with company-related cargo.

In 1988, Rafael Hernández Airport started to surface as an alternative to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, when Carnival Air Lines and ATA began jet services there. In the 1990s, American Airlines joined those two airlines. Later on, Pan Am (2) and TWA also came.

In the early 1990s Carnival Air Lines operated the first intra-Puerto Rican jet service from the airport to Ponce, with Boeing 727s and Airbus A300s.

Prinair suffered various accidents and ceased operations.

In 2000, North American Airlines re-open passenger service with a non-stop flight to New York-JFK three times a week. Later on Continental Airlines joined North American with a daily flight to their hub in Newark. The evident success of service from the Aguadilla, caught the attention of Boston-Maine Airways that opened a route to Orlando-Sanford and Santo Domingo.

In 2004, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced that it would be remodelling and expanding BQN to accommodate more flights and passengers. An expansion of the terminal building and a new parking lot were among the projects in mind. The expansion was inaugurated on July 12, 2005.

In 2005, continuous passenger traffic growth caught the attention of Jet Blue Airways, which open a daily flight to their hub in New York. Soon after the arrival of Jet Blue to the airport, North American ceased operations at the airport. Soon after, Jet Blue announced that it will be adding a second daily flight to New York-JFK.

In December 2006, thousands of people gathered at the airport to welcome Carlos "El Indio" Quintana.

In 2006, Delta Connection began regional jet service to Atlanta, Georgia five times a week. The service ended on January 20, 2007 as part of Delta's restructuring plan. Later on 2007 JetBlue Airways began service to Orlando.

In the summer of 2007 Spirit Airlines announced plans to begin service from the airport to their hub in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with a flight five times a week during the summer. The success of the service resulted in Spirit offering 2 daily flights. Service frequency was lowered to a flight 5 times a week instead of the expected end of service at the end of the summer.

On July 5, 2007, the newly renovated control tower directed its first aircraft.

During the low season of 2007 there were 59 flights per week, 1 daily flight to New York, 1 to Newark and Orlando and a flight 5 times per week to Ft. Lauderdale.

Due to the success of service, Spirit Airlines has increased their frequency to daily to/from Ft. Lauderdale. In addition, Spirit added a daily non-stop service to Orlando on February. JetBlue will also continue to have two daily flights to New York-JFK after the Holiday Season. Also, starting May 1, JetBlue will be adding a second daily flight to/from Orlando.

On June 2, 2008, Pan Am World Airways Dominicana restored service between the Airport and Santo Domingo-Las Americas as well as to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. These are two of the routes that is evidently under-served due to high demand and proximity of Aguadilla to the neighboring island. On May 24, 2008, local leaders gathered at the airport to meet Democratic presidential candidate Hillary R. Clinton.

The capacity of the airport and its role as the main gateway to Porta del Sol, the airport is considered extremely undeserved, something that has caused indignation in the region, which accounts for one third of the Puerto Rico's total population, and the mayor of the city on a number of occasions to ask for the airport to be transferred to the city.

Statistics

This table shows the continuous growth of passenger traffic at the airport since 2002:

Year	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2008
Passengers	56,257	132,668	254,436	301,017	402,142	500,000

For Fiscal Year 2006 the airport transported 402,142 passengers, nearly a 300% increase in four years. With only 84 flights per week during the high seasons (Summer & Winter) and 59 flights per week the rest of the year, Hernandez Airport has an Average Load Factor of 80%.

Recent News

New Routes

Airline	Destination	Effective Date	Frequency	Aircraft
City Link Air	Jacksonville, Florida	2nd Quarter 2010	4x/week	E-145

Seaborne Airlines Seaborne Airlines plans to begin service from Aguadilla to San Juan Isla Grande Airport

FedEx Plans Distribution Hub

FedEx plans to expand its existing operations at the airport to make it its Caribbean distribution hub.

Act 67

Act 67 of May 22, 2008 establishes incentives for charter airlines offering service to the airport. It guarantees profit of up to 10%, 50% discount on landing fees, and matching dollar per dollar base on volume proyections/available seats.

To benefit from the act Charter Airlines must carry 75% of the passengers on board with a 3+ nights reservation in a hotel in the region of 130 or less rooms.

Ahrens Airborne

Ahrens Aircraft due to set up operations at Punta Borinquen in Aguadilla to manufacture an aircraft known as the AR 404, was promised money by the Puerto Rican government to develop the airliner, but an investigation by the United States government prevented the money from getting to the company, and the project was called off with only two AR 404 airplanes built at Rafael Hernandez Airport [3].

NASA Aviation Safety Program

Hernandez Airport will host the initial flights of the recently modified S-3 Viking. The Viking was modified to become state-of-the-art icing research aircraft. This flights will seek to characterize the icing conditions that exist in the tropical convective layer of the atmosphere.

Facilities

Rafael Hernández Airport covers an area of 1,600 acres (647 ha) which hosts the longest runway in the Caribbean after Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.

Runway

• Runway 08/26: 11,702 x 200 ft (3,567 x 61 m), Surface: Asphalt
  • With Blast Pads and Shoulders: 13,440 X 300 ft (4,097 X 91 m)

At the beginning of the airport, the runway was built as part of the Ramey Air Force Base complex. Ramey was home to the Strategic Air Command and housed a number of B-52s. Due to the size of the B-52 the runway at Ramey had to be built to a length of 11,702 ft and a width of 200 ft, added a 870 ft Blast Pad at each end and a 50 ft shoulder on each side.

North Side

The North side of the airport constitutes a passenger terminal with an international side capable of handling flights of over 200 passengers. It also hosts the Main Cargo Terminal, the FedEx Terminal, and the General Aviation Terminal. The North side also houses the Copeca Jet Center Executive Terminal, as well as five service hangars. The military side of the airport is also located on the North side, housing the Air Station Borinquen, a United States Coast Guard facility.

South Side

The South side of the airport is the largest portion of the airport, but is currently undeveloped. Since the airport was transferred to Puerto Rico Port Authority in 1973, the South side has been object of disputes and political campaign. Since then promises have been abundant, yet more than three decades later, the South side is still undeveloped. Under the administration of Sila M. Calderón and Aníbal Acevedo Vilá a master plan was conceived to turn the South side into a cargo hub for the Caribbean. Local residents object to the use of the South side for Cargo rather than a modern passenger terminal.

Passenger Terminal The passenger terminal was recently upgraded to include air conditioning, more space for modern airline ticket counters and car rental counters. It constitutes two "gates" gate 14 and 15. Gate 14 is use for departures, while Gate 15 is use for arrivals. The terminal is divided into two sections, the domestic and the international sides. The domestic side is equipped with a United States Department of Agriculture facility, while the international side constitutes a United States Customs capable of handling up to 200 passengers.

Future Expansion

There are official plans to renovate the runway enroute to house FedEx expansion.

Passenger Airlines and Destinations

In the past American Airlines offered service to their hub in Miami from Rafael Hernandez Airport. Miami as well as other popular routes currently lack service from the airport. This markets include but are not limited to Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, and Baltimore. These cities are home to some of the largest Puerto Rican communities in the United States, many of whom have ties to Aguadilla and the surrounding region.

Airlines	Destinations
Continental Airlines	Newark
JetBlue Airways	New York-JFK, Orlando
PAWA Dominicana	Punta Cana, Santo Domingo
Spirit Airlines	Fort Lauderdale

In 2009 a United States Customs facility was inaugurated at Rafael Hernandez Airport. The Customs facility is capable of handling up to 200 passengers. The inauguration of this facility open the interest in the region to include international flights to the airport. Efforts are currently being held to begin charter flights from international destinations such as Barcelona, Spain and Milan, Italy. Currently international traffic in Puerto Rico is decreasing due to high prices and offer. This critical situation is cause by the local government efforts to keep tourism in the San Juan metropolitan area. Efforts to increase tourism in the Porta del Sol region would be favorable to international passenger traffic in the island.

Cargo Airlines

The cargo section of the airport is divided in two sections, the Main Terminal and the FedEx Terminal. The FedEx Terminal is home to FedEx and its local affiliates. Talks are currently going for FedEx to increase their operations at Rafael Hernandez Airport and turn Aguadilla in a hub and distribution center for the Caribbean. Te remaining Cargo Carriers are located in the Main Terminal.

Airlines	Destinations
Ameriflight	Grenada, Providenciales, San Juan, Santiago de los Caballeros, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. Lucia
Atlas Air	Malta (charters several times per month)
CaribEx Worldwide/CaribEx Intl Airlines	Daily Flights to Santo Domingo, and on demand flights to the Caribbean and the US
CaribEx Worldwide/CaribEx Intl Airlines operated by Skyway Enterprises	Antigua, Miami, Providenciales, San Juan, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten
Contract Air Cargo	Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo
Corporate Air	Aruba, Barbados, Curaçao, Port of Spain, Santiago de los Caballeros, St. Lucia
FedEx Express	Memphis, Greensboro (NC), Indianapolis
FedEx Feeder operated by Mountain Air Cargo	Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo
Martinair Cargo	Amsterdam, Bogotá, London Stansted
Merlin Ventures Ltd	Barbados, Miami
Merlin Express	Providenciales, Santiago de los Caballeros
Mountain Air Cargo	Providenciales, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo
Roblex Aviation
Tradewinds Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth, Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, Hartford, Indianapolis

Road Access

The airport can be accessed via two highways from PR-2.

• Arecibo and Points East including Isabela and Camuy are connected to the airport via SR-110.

• Mayagüez and Points south including downtown Aguadilla, Rincon, and Cabo Rojo are connected to the airport via SR-107.

External links

• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for BQN
  • AirNav airport information for TJBQ
  • ASN accident history for BQN
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations for TJBQ
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for BQN