# El Alto International Airport (LPB)

> La Paz / El Alto, BO · IATA: LPB · ICAO: SLLP · Medium Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `LPB` |
| ICAO | `SLLP` |
| City | La Paz / El Alto |
| Country | BO |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 4071 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | -16.51330, -68.19230 |

## Description

Where lowland Viru Viru takes the freighters, El Alto (LPB/SLLP) — at 4,061 metres the world's highest international airport — is Bolivia's second international cargo airport and moves most of its freight in the holds of passenger aircraft serving La Paz. The altitude thins payloads noticeably, so airfreight into the seat of government costs more per kilo than into the eastern lowlands. Belly capacity comes mainly from Boliviana de Aviación, Avianca and LATAM, while dedicated freighter services remain rare compared with Santa Cruz. Since 2022 the airport has been run by the state company NAABOL, which took over the duties of the former operator SABSA, with the Aduana Nacional de Bolivia clearing customs on site. Roads from the Altiplano reach the Pacific ports of Arica and Iquique in Chile and Ilo in Peru, so heavy, less time-critical goods usually travel multimodally by sea. Forwarders reserve LPB for urgent, temperature-controlled and higher-value consignments; Viru Viru (VVI) remains the choice for volume, with Cochabamba (CBB) as an inland fallback.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/el-alto-international-airport-lpb](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/el-alto-international-airport-lpb)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/el-alto-international-airport-lpb](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/el-alto-international-airport-lpb)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/el-alto-international-airport-lpb/llm-summary*