José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport (; ) is an airport serving
Guayaquil, a city in the
province of
Guayas in Ecuador. The airport was named after
José Joaquín de Olmedo, a notable Ecuadorian poet, first mayor of the city of Guayaquil and former president of Ecuador. It was changed from
Simón Bolívar International Airport, which is currently the
name on the airports in Caracas,
Venezuela, and
Santa Marta, Colombia. The airport is located north of Guayaquil's centre, on the Avenida de las Américas, and has a runway with a length of , an elevation of , and can accommodate
Boeing 747s,
MD-11s and
Airbus A340-600 aircraft. As of 9 February 2011, an airport exit tax was levied on all international tickets. However, it is no longer required to pay at the window when exiting the country, but the policy may change at a later time. It is the
second busiest airport in Ecuador. On 31 July 2014 the airport domestic area was enlarged, now the airport is capable to handle up to 7.5 million passengers per year.