Dorado, PR 🇵🇷 Closed Airport
PR-0012
-
75 ft
PR-U-A
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 18.464966° N, -66.295581° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: DDP DDP PR-DDP
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The airport ceased operations in the mid-1990s, with the most cited year being 1996. Its closure was directly linked to the closure of the original Dorado Beach Hotel, which was its primary reason for existence.
The closure was due to economic reasons. The airport was a private facility built specifically to serve the Dorado Beach and Cerromar hotels. When the original Dorado Beach Hotel closed in 1996 for redevelopment, the airport lost its main source of traffic and revenue, making it financially unviable to continue operations.
The site of the former airport has been completely redeveloped and is now part of the 'Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve' luxury community. The land once occupied by the runway and taxiways is now home to high-end residential properties, private roads, and resort amenities. A large portion of the western end of the former runway is now the location of the 'Watermill Aquatic Park,' a private water park for the resort's residents and guests. The faint outline of the old runway is still visible in some areas from satellite imagery, but it is no longer functional as an airfield.
Opened in the late 1950s (around 1958), the airport was developed by Laurance Rockefeller as a key feature of his ultra-luxury Dorado Beach Hotel. It was designed to provide affluent guests, including celebrities and dignitaries, with discreet and convenient access, allowing them to fly in on private aircraft or shuttle flights directly to the resort. The airport, which had the former FAA identifier DDP and ICAO code TJDO, featured a single paved runway approximately 5,000 feet long. It was notably the main base for the commuter airline 'Dorado Wings,' which operated a fleet of Britten-Norman Islanders and other small aircraft on frequent shuttle flights between the resort, the nearby Cerromar Beach Hotel, and San Juan's Luis Muñoz MarĂn International Airport (SJU).
There are no plans or prospects for reopening the Dorado Beach Airport. The land has been permanently repurposed for high-value real estate and resort facilities. The extensive development, including the construction of the water park and luxury homes directly on the former runway, makes any return to aviation use functionally impossible.