Question 1

Why is San Salvador’s airport named after Óscar Romero?

Accepted Answer

Legislative decree No. 163, approved in 2020, renamed it “Aeropuerto Internacional de El Salvador, San Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez” after Monseñor Romero’s canonization by Pope Francis on 14 October 2018 in St Peter’s Square, Rome. The airport itself opened decades earlier, in January 1980, built for state authority CEPA by Japan’s Hazama Gumi.

Question 2

How do I get from the airport into San Salvador?

Accepted Answer

CEPA does not publish a public bus route from the terminal. Three authorized taxi companies — Inversiones Acopacific, Acacya and Acobam — wait in the arrivals area, and 11 rental agencies (Avis, Budget, Hertz, Alamo, National, Europcar and others) have counters just past Customs. The new Terminal de Llegadas also has 64 marked pickup spaces at the kerb, 12 of them reserved for families and travelers with disabilities.

Question 3

How much does parking cost at San Salvador’s airport?

Accepted Answer

General parking is $2 for the first hour, $4 for two hours, and $6 flat from three hours up to a full day. VIP parking is $12 per day or fraction. Both are pay-on-exit at the passenger terminal — CEPA’s only published parking is on-site; there is no shuttle lot.

Question 4

How long does it take to get through Migration after landing?

Accepted Answer

CEPA says its 73 migration desks — 34 of them added with the new Terminal de Llegadas — clear most passengers in 30 seconds to a minute each, and that arriving travelers can be out of the airport in under 30 minutes. A separate CEPA release about a new TAG Airlines route repeats the same under-30-minutes figure.

Question 5

How do I book the airport’s VIP lounge, and what does it include?

Accepted Answer

Reserve and pay per person at simple.sv (credit card, debit card or bank transfer); airport staff then meet you to speed up entry or exit formalities while you wait in the lounge, open 6:15 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. Children aged 3 and older pay the same rate, a luggage trolley is an extra $3, and companions without a booking cannot come in with you.

Question 6

I lost something at the airport, or want to complain about my airline — who do I contact?

Accepted Answer

For lost property, contact the Oficina de Objetos Perdidos in the main-entrance lobby, or call +503 2375-2457 (24 hours). For a complaint about a ticket, flight or baggage issue with an airline, El Salvador’s Defensoría del Viajero handles it online at enlinea.defensoria.gob.sv/Viajero, by WhatsApp at 7844-1482, or by phone at 910.

San Salvador (San Luis Talpa), La Paz Department

SAL questions travelers actually ask