Rafael_Hernandez_Airport Rafael_Hernandez_Airport

Rafael Hernandez Airport - Definition and Overview

A North American Airlines Boeing 757 parked at the Rafael Hernández Airport, with Fed Ex and Tradewinds jets nearby. Photo copyrighted by, and courtesy of, Jose Mendez and the BQN Ramp Spotters.
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A North American Airlines Boeing 757 parked at the Rafael Hernández Airport, with Fed Ex and Tradewinds jets nearby. Photo copyrighted by, and courtesy of, Jose Mendez and the BQN Ramp Spotters.

Rafael Hernández Airport is a small airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández. Its IATA Airport Code is BQN.

The airport, which is said to have the longest runway in the Caribbean (11,702 x 200 feet), has been long associated with the adjacent military base, Base Ramey. It used to receive domestic commercial flights by Prinair. 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 Airlines and ATA began jet services there. In the 1990s, American Airlines joined those two airlines. Later on, Pan Am (2) and TWA also came.

Recently, the Puerto Rican 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 should be inagurated by the end of 2004.

Currently, the airport is served by:

- Flights to Newark, NJ (EWR)

- Flights to New York, NY (JFK)

- Santo Domingo (SDQ) and Punta Cana (PUJ), Dominican Republic; San Juan, PR (SJU)

-Flights to domestic destinations; the Dominican Republic

On the cargo side:

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