MY FS FLIGHTS
Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport (MUVR/VRA) serves the Varadero resort area and Matanzas province on Cuba's northern coast, and is the country's second-busiest airport after Havana. It offers a single long, lit hard-surface runway with an ILS, making it a straightforward destination for simulator pilots flying international or domestic legs into Cuba.
Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport is a medium-size international airport in Matanzas province, Cuba, primarily serving the popular beach resort of Varadero as well as the wider province, including the smaller beach town of Jibacoa. It is named after the journalist and black rights activist Juan Gualberto Gómez (1854-1933). The field handles a mix of international and domestic traffic and accounts for roughly a quarter of all air traffic in Cuba, making it the second largest and busiest airport in the country after José Martí International Airport in Havana. For a sim pilot, its long ILS-equipped runway and status as a major holiday gateway make it a notable Caribbean destination.
The airport lies in Matanzas province, in the small town of Carbonera, only a few kilometres from Matanzas City itself, and about 30 km (18 mi) west of the resort town of Varadero. It sits roughly 23 km (14 mi) from Matanzas City and about 125 km (78 mi) from Havana.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 06/24, a hard-surfaced strip 11,488 ft in length. It is lit and equipped with an ILS on the 06 approach.
Radio services are provided under the callsign Varadero, with Varadero Rdo offering air-ground communication on 126.9 MHz and 1132.1 MHz, Varadero App handling approach on 119.6 MHz, and Varadero Twr providing tower service on 118.4 MHz. The 06 runway direction is served by an ILS.
The airport takes its name from Juan Gualberto Gómez (1854-1933), a journalist and black rights activist. Beyond this naming, no further historical detail on the airfield's origins or development is available.
Juan Gualberto Gómez continues to operate as a major international and domestic airport, handling around 25 percent of Cuba's air traffic and ranking as the country's second-busiest airfield behind Havana. It has a single terminal building split into arrivals and departures sections, served by three jetbridges with mobile air-stairs used for the remaining apron parking positions.