Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hedman Alas (
www.hedmanalas.com
)
has daily service to Guatemala City via the El Flor-
ido border from Copán, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, and La Ceiba.
From El Salvador
El Salvador's numerous borders with Guatemala are at Las Chinamas/Valle Nuevo (High-
way CA-8), La Hachadura/Ciudad Pedro de Alvarado on Pacific Coast Highway (CA-2),
San Cristóbal/San Cristóbal on the Pan-American Highway (CA-1), and Anguiatu/ Angui-
atu (Highway CA-10). Several bus lines operate service between Guatemala City and San
Salvador, mostly via Las Chinamas, including Pullmantur (
www.pullmantur.com
).
To and From Points South
Ticabus(
www.ticabus.com
)
connectsGuatemalaCitytoSanSalvador,Managua,SanJosé,
and Panama City, taking several days to make the trip and stopping in the listed capitals
along the way. A one-way ticket from Guatemala City to San José, Costa Rica, costs about
$50.
The only scheduled domestic service within Guatemala is between Guatemala City and
Flores, although ongoing improvements to local infrastructure at many smaller airports
maymeanasmallnetworkoflocalflightsmaysoonbeupandrunning.Someoftheflights
to and from Flores operate using smaller aircraft, though the largest bird on this route
nowadays is the 40-seat ATR-42. Airfares for this domestic service have recently skyrock-
eted and are surprisingly expensive, particularly when taking into account the short dis-
tance involved in flying within Guatemala.
All of the domestic carriers flying out of Guatemala City operate from their private
hangars, located on the east side of the runway, opposite the main terminal building. The
only airline operating its domestic service from the main terminal at La Aurora airport is
TACA.
New domestic airports with passenger terminals are either complete or nearing comple-
tion in Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, Puerto San José, Coatepeque, and San Marcos.
Plans call for terminals at the Pacific Coast leisure destination of Retalhuleu and the ex-
isting paved runway at Puerto Barrios. Cobán has a functional airstrip, though there is no
scheduled service. Flights from Guatemala City to the above destinations may become a
reality once the terminals are complete and investors make inroads into a market with cer-
