Rafael Hernández Airport

Rafael Hernández International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández
IATA: BQN ICAO: TJBQ FAA LID: BQN
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Puerto Rico Ports Authority
Serves	Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Location	Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
Hub for	Ameriflight
Elevation  AMSL	237 ft / 72 m
Coordinates	18°29′42″N 067°07′46″W / 18.49500°N 67.12944°W / 18.49500; -67.12944
Map
BQN Location in Puerto Rico
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 08/26 11,702 3,567 Asphalt/Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Aircraft Operations 40,767 Passenger movement (2016) 504,380 Based aircraft 37
Source: FAA[1][2] GCM[3] Google Maps[4] passengers from the Puerto Rico Ports Authority

Rafael Hernández International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández) (IATA: BQN, ICAO: TJBQ, FAA LID: BQN) is a joint civil-military airport located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín. It is Puerto Rico's second largest international airport in terms of passenger movement. It is located in Porta del Sol tourist region, in Puerto Rico's west coast. It is also home to Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen and to the Caribbean Branch of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations. The airport has the longest runway in the Caribbean region.

In the past, the airport has been served by major carriers like

.

History

In 1939, the Army sent Major George C. Kenney to Puerto Rico to conduct a preliminary survey of possible air base sites on Puerto Rico. He examined a total of 42 sites and declared that Punta Borinquen the best site for a major air base. Planted sugar cane farms covered some 3,796 acres (1,536 ha) that the government purchased for military use in the first week of September 1939 at a cost of $1,215,000. Later that year, Major Karl S. Axtater assumed command of what was to become Borinquen Army Air Field.

With the establishment of an independent

at each end and a 50 feet (15 m) shoulder on each side.

The closure of what became Ramey Air Force Base began in 1971 and lasted until 1973. Following its closure, it was converted into a civilian airport. It used to receive domestic commercial flights by

.

In the mid and late 1970s, the Ahrens Aircraft Corporation attempted to set up operations at former USAF industrial facilities at the airport in order to manufacture the Ahrens AR 404 regional airliner, a short takeoff and landing (STOL) turboprop aircraft, with financial incentives promised by the Puerto Rican government for development. However, a subsequent government investigation over these incentives ensued and the project was cancelled after only two AR 404s were built at Rafael Hernández Airport.

In 2004, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced that it would be remodeling 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, with said expansion being inaugurated on July 12, 2005.

Since the closure of Ramey AFB in 1974, the airport's control tower had remained standing, but was non-operational, limiting the airport to

became operational on July 5, 2007.

On February 20, 2012, it was announced by both the mayor of Aguadilla and the U.S.

that the airport will be designated a "free trade zone" (FTZ), as are many other airports in the U.S., a move that is believed will improve the development of the airport and surrounding areas.

On April 10, 2014, Lufthansa Technik announced the creation of a maintenance, repair and overhaul center (MRO) at the airport. This created operations for maintenance of Lufthansa Aircraft flying on the Americas, starting with 2 reconditioning lines by C and D checks for the Airbus A320, with plans to expand up to 5 reconditioning lines.^[14]

Passenger service

In 1988,

In 2000, North American Airlines reopened passenger service with a non-stop flight to New York JFK three times a week. Later, Continental Airlines joined North American with a daily flight to their hub in Newark. Continental has since merged with United Airlines, and the latter airline has continued to provide service. Boston-Maine Airways began service to Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida and to Santo Domingo.

In 2005, JetBlue began a daily flight to their hub at New York JFK. Soon after the arrival of JetBlue, North American ceased operations. As a result, JetBlue announced that it would add a second daily flight to New York JFK.

In 2006,

in Florida.

In the summer of 2007, Spirit Airlines announced plans to begin service from the airport to their hub in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a flight five times a week during the summer. It then reduced its service frequency to a flight two times a week.

In 2007, there were 59 flights per week, 1 daily flight to

.

.

On May 24, 2022, Frontier Airlines launched service for the first time to/from Orlando International Airport (MCO). The new service operates three to four times weekly and marks the airline's 13th route serving Puerto Rico from destinations in the U.S. and the Caribbean.[17]

Spirit eventually stopped all flights from Aguadilla in 2023.

Facilities

Rafael Hernández Airport covers an area of 1600 acres (647 ha). BQN has one runway, 8/26: 11,702 ft x 200 ft (3,567 m x 61 m) Asphalt/Concrete.^[1][18]

North Side

The north side of the airport consists of a

based their operations on this side of the airport.

The closure of what became Ramey Air Force Base began in 1971 and lasted until 1973. Following its closure, it was converted into a civilian airport. It used to receive domestic commercial flights by

.

In the mid and late 1970s, the Ahrens Aircraft Corporation attempted to set up operations at former USAF industrial facilities at the airport in order to manufacture the Ahrens AR 404 regional airliner, a short takeoff and landing (STOL) turboprop aircraft, with financial incentives promised by the Puerto Rican government for development. However, a subsequent government investigation over these incentives ensued and the project was cancelled after only two AR 404s were built at Rafael Hernández Airport.

In 2004, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced that it would be remodeling 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, with said expansion being inaugurated on July 12, 2005.

Since the closure of Ramey AFB in 1974, the airport's control tower had remained standing, but was non-operational, limiting the airport to

became operational on July 5, 2007.

On February 20, 2012, it was announced by both the mayor of Aguadilla and the U.S.

that the airport will be designated a "free trade zone" (FTZ), as are many other airports in the U.S., a move that is believed will improve the development of the airport and surrounding areas.

On April 10, 2014, Lufthansa Technik announced the creation of a maintenance, repair and overhaul center (MRO) at the airport. This created operations for maintenance of Lufthansa Aircraft flying on the Americas, starting with 2 reconditioning lines by C and D checks for the Airbus A320, with plans to expand up to 5 reconditioning lines.^[14]

South Side

The south side of the airport is the largest portion of the airport, but is currently undeveloped. Since the airport was transferred from the

, a master plan was conceived to turn the south side into an air cargo hub for the Caribbean, but local residents objected to the use of the south side for cargo rather than a modern passenger terminal.

Passenger Terminal

The

United States Customs

inspection facility.

Cargo Terminal

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. The remaining Cargo Carriers are located in the Main Terminal.

The

Caribbean Branch operate at the airport.

Future expansion

A January 16, 2010, news report stated that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a master plan to redevelop the Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla that would involve an investment of $1 billion over the next 20 years. In 2010, the Aguadilla airport had two commercial passenger gates. The master plan calls for a total of 30 commercial passenger gates.[19]

There are also plans to expand the airport access road.^[20]

There are official plans to renovate the runway to coincide with FedEx’s expansion.^[21] There are plans to add a second runaway to the airport.

In June 2021, an official plan of expansion was announced by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority and paid by the FAA. The expansion plan includes building a new runway to replace the current one completed by 2027 as the current runway has only five years left of service, having been built in the 1930s for World War II.

Aside from the new runway, a new passenger terminal and three new cargo warehouses are planned to be built. The Puerto Rico Ports Authority seeks to bring back airlines with the new expansion.^[22] There are also plans to renovate the airport's facilities including bathrooms, relocating stores, adding jet bridges and more.^[23]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Refs
Frontier Airlines	Orlando	[24]
JetBlue	Fort Lauderdale, New York–JFK, Orlando, Tampa (ends June 13, 2024)[25]	[26]
United Airlines	Newark	[27]

JetBlue studied expansion for the 3 main airports in Puerto Rico for 2011 (Aguadilla, Ponce, and San Juan) and is one of two airlines that operate in all three airports. In the past, American Airlines offered service to their hub in Miami from Rafael Hernández Airport. Previously, the airport was closed due to the pandemic and passenger flights weren't permitted. On April 1, 2021, the airport reopened for passenger flights.

Cargo

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Airlines	Destinations
Air Cargo Carriers	San Juan, Santiago de los Caballeros
Ameriflight	Barbados, Castries, Curaçao, Fort-de-France, Port of Spain, St. Kitts, San Juan
Emirates Sky Cargo	Amsterdam, Quito
FedEx Express	Campinas, Memphis, San José (CR) Santo Domingo–Las Américas
FedEx Feeder	Castries, Port of Spain, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo–Las Américas

Statistics

This table shows the continuous growth of passenger traffic at the airport since 2001, but affected in 2009 by the lack of new flights:

, nearly a 500% increase in five years. Rafael Hernández Airport has an average of 47 regular passengers flights per week.

Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Passengers	75,754	80,018	132,668	230,976	253,730	356,145	400,473	492,180	461,506	490,103	471,226	432,651	407,664	428,413	412,565	504,380

Carrier shares (September 2022 – August 2023)^[32]

Carrier	Passengers (arriving and departing)
JetBlue Airways	379,000(45.56%)
Spirit Airlines	222,000(26.71%)
United Airlines	99,000(11.84%)
Frontier Airlines	132,000(15.89%)

Top U.S. passenger destinations (departing only) (September 2022 – August 2023)^[32]

Rank	City	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Orlando, Florida	Orlando International Airport (MCO)	188,230	Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit
2	New York City, New York	John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)	105,620	JetBlue
1	Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport (FLL)	60,480	JetBlue, Spirit
4	Newark, New Jersey	Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)	49,030	United
5	Tampa, Florida	Tampa International Airport (TPA)	10,850	Frontier, JetBlue

Access

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

• Arecibo and points east including
  Camuy
  are connected to the airport via PR-110.
• Mayagüez and points south including downtown Aguadilla,
  Rincon, and Cabo Rojo
  are connected to the airport via PR-107.

Accidents and incidents

• On June 4, 1946, a
  Douglas C-47 crashed 1.5 miles (2.4 km) ESE of then Ramey AFB while practicing single-engine landings. Three out of the four occupants on board were killed.^[33]
• On May 3, 1960, a Navegação Aérea Brasileira (NAB) Curtiss C-46 Commando crashed into a small hill on approach to Ramey AFB on a delivery flight from Miami. All five occupants were killed.^[34]
• On May 10, 1991, a Douglas DC-3 of Four Star Air Cargo crashed shortly after takeoff due to an engine malfunction and pilot error, causing the aircraft to stall. Both occupants died.^[35]
• On February 3, 1992, a
  Lockheed Super Constellation, suffering a fire and being damaged beyond repair.^[36]
• On August 7, 2002,
  a C-130 Hercules had taken off from BQN before crashing in Caguas, killing all 10 occupants.^[37]
• On August 30, 2013, a
  MD-11 aircraft, taking off for a flight to London Stansted Airport, suffered an engine fire and had to abort the takeoff. There were no injuries to the plane's crew, but the airplane suffered substantial damage to the number one engine, nacelle and aircraft's structure.^[38]

See also

• Transportation in Puerto Rico
• List of airports in Puerto Rico

References

External links

• Aeronautical chart and airport information for Rafael Hernández Airport at SkyVector
• 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
• Rafael Hernández Airport at OpenStreetMap