# El Loa Airport (CJC)

> Calama, CL · IATA: CJC · ICAO: SCCF · Medium Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `CJC` |
| ICAO | `SCCF` |
| City | Calama |
| Country | CL |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 2299 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | -22.49820, -68.90360 |

## Description

About 2.7 million passengers used El Loa (CJC/SCCF) in 2024, and its freight profile hangs almost entirely on copper: the airport near Calama in Chile's Antofagasta Region opened in 1952 specifically to connect Chuquicamata, one of the world's largest copper mines, and remains the industrial reference point of the Chilean copper belt. Miners, specialists and high-value equipment reach the pits through this field, six kilometres south-east of the city centre, while the cargo terminal handles mineral samples, spare parts and industrial equipment alongside belly freight on scheduled services. Two constraints matter for planning: stands accept a maximum wingspan of 36 metres, so only narrow-bodies such as the A320 and 737 operate and wide-body freighters are ruled out, and the airport sits at roughly 2,300 metres elevation, which visibly reduces payload on take-off. Heavy or outsize consignments therefore route through Santiago (SCL) with a road leg of some 1,500 kilometres northwards, while Antofagasta (ANF) on the Pacific serves sea-air combinations. Chile's concessions authority MOP is currently advancing the third El Loa concession, which foresees an enlarged passenger terminal and seven boarding bridges.

---

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

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

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