Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Captain Victor Montes Arias International Airport (SPYL/TYL) serves the coastal oil town of Talara in Peru's Piura Region, providing a single long runway close to the Pacific shoreline. It has a distinctive wartime history as a US Army Air Forces base defending the South American coast during the Second World War, and today functions as scheduled airline gateway and relief field for nearby Piura.
Captain Victor Montes Arias International Airport lies on the northern Peruvian coast serving the oil town of Talara. It is operated by Aeropuertos del Perú S.A. (AdP) and functions as an important airport within the Piura Region, acting as a relief field for Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport at Piura and offering quicker access to the well-known beaches of Los Órganos, Máncora and Punta Sal. For the simulator pilot it offers a long, well-lit single runway on a remote desert coastline, with an interesting wartime past as a US-operated airfield.
The airport sits at Talara in the Piura Region of northern Peru, close to the Pacific coast. El Pato Air Base, a Peruvian Air Force facility, lies about 4.5 km (2.8 nm) to the north-east of the field.
The airport has a single physical runway, 17/35, measuring 8,056 ft and surfaced in hard asphalt-type material (H); it is lit for night operations. There is no ILS at the field.
The field is served by TALARA RDO on 119.5 MHz, providing radio service to arriving and departing traffic.
During the Second World War the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Sixth Air Force to defend the South American coastline against Axis submarine activity. The first American forces arrived on 8 March 1942, and construction of barracks and other facilities began that August. The station complement was provided by the 336th Service Group. Flying units based at the field included the 397th Bombardment Squadron of the 6th Bombardment Group (August 1942 to May 1943, flying LB-30/B-24A Liberators and Northrop A-17A Nomads), the 51st Fighter Squadron of the 32d Fighter Group (December 1942 to March 1943, flying P-40 Warhawks), the 3d Bombardment Squadron of the 6th Bombardment Group (April to May 1943, LB-30/B-24A Liberators), and the 91st Reconnaissance Squadron of the 1st Photographic Group (1943-1944, flying B-25/F-10 Mitchells). The last American aircraft departed in July 1944, though a small detachment remained to operate a communications station run by the Army Communications Service's 153d Communications Squadron, chiefly training Peruvian military personnel in communications, until the facility closed on 31 January 1947.
The airport is run by Aeropuertos del Perú S.A. and continues to serve scheduled airline traffic, with JetSmart Perú, LATAM Perú and Sky Airline Peru operating flights to Lima. It remains an important relief airport for the Piura Region and provides convenient access for travellers heading to the Los Órganos, Máncora and Punta Sal beach areas.