El Alto International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional El Alto) is an international airport serving La Paz, Bolivia. It is located in the city of El Alto, 13 kilometers west of La Paz.

Bolivia is characterized by an extremely varied terrain including rugged mountains, high plateaus, low valleys, and tropical forests; this topography has had a negative effect on national transportation, making communication difficult between elevated and low cities along with isolated tropical towns. Aviation is an important solution for isolated communities in this environment.

The airport has been in service since the first half of the 20th century but was modernized in the late 1960s when its runway was lengthened and a new passenger terminal with modern facilities was built. The new airport was inaugurated in 1965. El Alto airport was a primary hub for the former Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, Bolivia’s flag carrier which ceased operations in 2007 and is a hub for Línea Aérea Amaszonas. It serves also as a focus city for Boliviana de Aviación which is a state-owned airline.

Until 1999, the airport had John F. Kennedy (JFK) as its official name, although in practice this name was never publicly used. In that year, before the pressure of different sectors, by means of the Law 1944 by the government of Hugo Banzer Suárez, the airport changed its name officially to El Alto International Airport.

The new terminal includes various shops offering Bolivian handicrafts as well as bookstores and duty-free shops. There are also restaurants and cafes in the main lobby and in both domestic and international departure areas.

According to the Wikipedia