# La Aurora Airport (GUA)

> Guatemala City, GT · IATA: GUA · ICAO: MGGT · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `GUA` |
| ICAO | `MGGT` |
| City | Guatemala City |
| Country | GT |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 1509 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | 14.58330, -90.52750 |

## Description

The codes GUA and MGGT belong to La Aurora, Guatemala's principal international airport and the busiest in the country by a wide margin. Sitting about 6.5 km south of downtown Guatemala City at roughly 1,509 m above sea level, it doubles as the main international passenger gateway and the nation's leading air-cargo station, with cargo volumes reportedly growing by more than 15 percent a year over the past five years. Freight is processed at the COMBEX-IM terminal next to the passenger building and in the DHL hangars, with Menzies Aviation providing ground and cargo handling for aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747-400 or an Antonov An-124 (Galaxy). Scheduled freighter and belly capacity is supplied by carriers including FedEx, UPS, DHL Aviation, Avianca Cargo and Cargojet. The export mix is dominated by perishables — coffee, cardamom (Guatemala is the world's largest cardamom exporter), sugar and fresh vegetables such as snow peas and broccoli — alongside textiles from the country's maquila sector. Customs and export inspections are run by SAT, Guatemala's tax and customs authority, which maintains phytosanitary checks for agricultural shipments. The CA-9 highway links the airport to the Pacific port of Puerto Quetzal and the Caribbean ports near Puerto Barrios, enabling combined air-sea routings for exporters. A single runway, hemmed in by the surrounding city and high terrain, constrains expansion and keeps La Aurora a capacity-sensitive operation.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/la-aurora-airport-gua](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/la-aurora-airport-gua)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/la-aurora-airport-gua](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/la-aurora-airport-gua)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/la-aurora-airport-gua/llm-summary*