The start of operations of the international airport in the southeastern part of Guatemala is scheduled for March this year.
The Southern Air Base of Retalhuleu, could be starting operations in March. The airport has the capacity to receive international flights. "Funds for the work were provided by the private sector and the work took about a year."
One of the projects which aroused the most interest from foreign investors in the recent Investment Summit has drawn criticism over its design and planning.
The small amount of urban development and the broken terrain in the area of Zone 25 where the Municipality of Guatemala plans to build an international airport have raised questions in the real estate sector.
Plans for the construction of the airport of Puerto de San José, Escuintla, are ready, and a partnership with the private sector is being sought to provide the finance of $140 million required for the project.
The aim of the construction of this airport is to relieve pressure on the air traffic in the terminal of La Aurora. Due to the fact that the necessary funds have not been obtained, the state is aiming to complete the project via a public-private partnership model.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has plans to build a new airport in Retalhuleu and to give international status to the Port of San José and Puerto Barrios.
An article in Elperiodico.com.gt reports that the plan was presented last Sunday by President Otto Perez Molina, who asked the auditor of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Armando Asturias, to go ahead with the project that could be starting in the first quarter of 2013.