For Venezuelans, the Maiquetía airport awakens different emotions in all people; they probably have special memories of our lives there. Over the years, it has become a point of reference for memories and a mythical place that has some unique curiosities.
Maiquetía airport
This airport opened on January 1, 1945. They designed it for a flat land area, but it was already being used for landing airplanes. Formerly, it was known as La Guaira Airfield. As a picturesque fact, Charles Lindbergh recommended this space during his visit to Venezuela in 1928 at the request of the North American airline Pan Am.
The Maiquetía “Simón Bolívar” International Airport has received civil aviation since 1912. The Pan American Airways (PAA) ship landed on a runway improvised in Cabo Blanco in the area of the Mare Abajo sector. This airport opened under the command of Isaías Medina Angarita.
The construction of the airport was subsidized by the United States through a joint project. This development project included other airport constructions in other countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. The name that was assigned was thanks to a parish in the state of Vargas.
Architecture and Art in Maiquetía
Luis Malaussena, a Venezuelan architect, was in charge of the passenger terminal. He is well known for being the designer of villas in El Paraíso, Paseo Los Próceres, and the buildings of the Military Academies of Venezuela. The airport, in turn, has a stained-glass window by Héctor Poleo. The artist also has an outstanding career, including the mural of the University City of Caracas and also the La Paz station of the Caracas Metro.
The floors and walls of the airport are decorated in more than 2608 square meters of the area by the kinetic artist Carlos Cruz-Diez which is called Additive Color Interference Chrome. It has become the emblem of the airport. The large number of mosaics that are adorning the floor+ made up of yellow, black, red, and blue are distributed in a way that is surprising to see and appreciate spectacular nuances.
Other airport information
Caracas’ location is about 37 kilometers from the Maiquetía Airport; currently, the facilities that the airport occupies are 882 hectares. This airport, together with La Chinita de Maracaibo International Airport and Manuel Piar International Airport, are the only ones that have an access gateway for airplanes; this airport is 72 meters above sea level.
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Image by DavidRockDesign via Pixabay under Creative Commons license.
