Piedra Ñi Airport

The airport was not a public facility. It is widely believed to have been a clandestine/unregistered airstrip. Its closure was almost certainly due to it being located and destroyed by the Colombian Armed Forces during counter-narcotics and counter-insurgency operations. The Vaupés department was a hotbed for FARC guerrilla activity and coca cultivation, and such strips were frequently built and then rendered unusable by military action to disrupt illegal logistics.

The site of the former airstrip, based on current and historical satellite imagery at the provided coordinates, has been completely reclaimed by the dense Amazon rainforest. There are no visible traces of a runway, clearings, or any associated structures. The area is remote, inaccessible by land, and for all practical purposes, the airfield no longer exists.

Piedra Ñi Airport's significance is entirely linked to the Colombian armed conflict and the illicit drug trade. It was never a commercial or civil airport. Its primary function was likely as a logistical node for small aircraft (e.g., Cessna 206, Piper PA-31) to transport processed coca paste, weapons, supplies, and personnel for guerrilla groups (primarily the FARC) or drug cartels operating deep within the jungle. Its existence highlights the critical role that remote, makeshift airstrips played in the infrastructure of illegal activities and the subsequent state response in the vast Colombian Amazon.

There are zero known plans or prospects for reopening Piedra Ñi Airport. Given its illicit origins, complete reclamation by the jungle, and the existence of the official Fabio Alberto León Bentley Airport (IATA: MVP, ICAO: SKMU) serving the Mitú region, there is no practical, economic, or legal reason to re-establish an airstrip at this remote location.