# Juan Simons Vela Airport (RIJ)

> Rioja, PE · IATA: RIJ · ICAO: SPJA · Medium Airport

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `RIJ` |
| ICAO | `SPJA` |
| City | Rioja |
| Country | PE |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 825 m |
| Cargo | ❌ |
| GPS | -6.06786, -77.16000 |

## Description

Scheduled service returned to Juan Simons Vela Airport (RIJ, SPJA) after a 24-year gap, and the field is now slated for a substantial rebuild. Operated by the state agency CORPAC, it serves Rioja in Peru's high-jungle San Martín region, a rice- and coffee-growing belt, and still sees only a thin flight programme. Peru's transport ministry has grouped Rioja with Tarapoto and Juanjuí in a modernisation package worth more than 500 million soles, intended to let the airport handle Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 class aircraft. No air cargo is processed at Rioja: farm produce leaves by truck, mostly along the Fernando Belaúnde Terry highway. Urgent air shipments route via Tarapoto (TPP) some 115 kilometres east and onward to Lima-Jorge Chávez (LIM), the country's customs and freight centre. For forwarders, RIJ is a local feeder with an upgrade ahead of it, not a freight point.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/juan-simons-vela-airport-rij](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/juan-simons-vela-airport-rij)*

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*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/juan-simons-vela-airport-rij/llm-summary*