Merida, Venezuela has remarkable resemblances with Medellin, Colombia. The city that is known as my home town is one of the most picturesque and touristy cities in the entire country of Venezuela. The city is much smaller (roughly 500,000 people) and a 727’s can barely fly into the airport since the runway is so small. The city hosts the highest peak in all of Venezuela and also boasts the longest cable car in the world! It was very good to be home for Christmas. More pictures coming soon!
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I’m not so sure that the city is known for being your home town…also, a 747 could not land there, but a DC-10 can, runway shortness is relative to aircraft size. I think that you meant “cable car” and not “metro cable”….. I’m too proud of being from Merida =)
Cesar 747’s used to land when until I was about 8 or 9 years old, they closed the airport because of a pretty bad accident. When is the last time that you have been? I just got back from Merida and it was BEAUTIFUL.
Marcelo, 747s never landed in Merida. A 747 is a partial double-decker, 4 engine, hugh plane that needs at least 6000 ft of runway for take off (without passengers and little fuel). The runway in Merida is about 5000ft long; DC-9s and 727s used to land in Merida until 1998 when a DC9 from Aeropostal landed too fast and came to a stop a few feet from the airport’s fence. At that time, airlines decided to suspend commercial jet flights there and opted for the smaller ATR airplanes. There was an accident 4 years ago in which one of the ATRs from Santa Barbara airlines crashed into a mountain because of pilot error, a classic CFIT incident (controlled flight into terrain). Since then, all commercial flights are from and to El Vigia airport; you can still land in Merida on a chartered flight or your own plane.
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I was in Merida last summer. I’m going back in February for the carnivals (Las Ferias) =) It is always beautiful there. We have a property in the mountains that is just majestic.
Ah Cesar your right it was the 727’s for some reason I kept thinking it was the 747’s! Thanks for that… It really sucks that they closed the airport especially since Merida is one of the most touristic cities in the country.. if things were better there I would actually look to buying property there!
The airport is open. It was never closed. However, commercial airliners are only flying to El Vigia airport (~45min away). I think eventually they will resume flights to Merida airport.
I heard there is a project where a man wants to start having flights to Medellin and Colombia from Merida… I think they are doing the city a big diservice by closing the airport. With the land slides from El Vigia I think they are losing business that way.. weren’t there plans to expand the airport runway?
I remember hearing something about an expansion of the runway in El Vigia. But who knows when that would happen. The eternal land slides on the Merida-El Vigia highway are a big inconvenience but there is always a way to get from El Vigia to Merida, there are other roads that can be taken.
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Thanks Dorothea