Santa Fé de Antioquía Airport

The closure was due to a combination of critical factors:
1. **Structural and Safety Failures:** The primary reason was the poor condition of the runway. It was constructed on unstable ground, which led to severe undulations, cracks, and subsidence. Colombia's Civil Aviation Authority (Aeronáutica Civil) never granted it full operational certification for regular flights because it was deemed unsafe for takeoffs and landings.
2. **Economic Unviability:** The airport saw extremely low demand. The anticipated traffic from tourism and charter flights never materialized, making the facility financially unsustainable to maintain and operate.
3. **Improved Ground Transportation:** The construction and opening of the Túnel de Occidente (Western Tunnel) significantly reduced travel time by road from Medellín to Santa Fé de Antioquia, diminishing the primary strategic advantage of air travel for this short distance.

The airport site has been completely and permanently repurposed. The land where the runway and terminal once stood is now the construction site for a major new regional hospital, which will also be named 'Hospital Guillermo Gaviria Correa'. Construction on the hospital began in the late 2010s. The former airport infrastructure has been demolished or integrated into the new development, and the site is no longer recognizable as an airfield.

Inaugurated around 2006-2007, the airport was officially named 'Aeropuerto Guillermo Gaviria Correa' in honor of a former governor of Antioquia who was tragically killed in captivity. It was built with the intention of boosting tourism to the historically significant town of Santa Fé de Antioquia, a designated 'Pueblo Patrimonio' (Heritage Town) of Colombia. The airport was designed to handle general aviation, air taxis, and small charter aircraft. However, due to its immediate and persistent structural problems, it never fulfilled its purpose and saw only very limited, sporadic use. Its history is more notable as a high-profile example of a failed public infrastructure project, often referred to as a 'white elephant,' than for any significant aviation operations.

There are zero prospects for reopening the airport. The land has been irrevocably reallocated for the construction of a critical public health facility (the regional hospital). Any future air service for the region would require identifying a new, geologically stable location and constructing an entirely new airport, a project for which there are currently no known plans.