Palmerola International Airport — Palmerola, Honduras

Palmerola International Airport, given the code XPL, opened to commercial traffic in 2021 as the new principal gateway for Tegucigalpa, replacing the notoriously short runway at the old Toncontin Airport within the capital itself. Situated near Comayagua, about 50 miles from downtown Tegucigalpa and linked by a dedicated highway, the airport shares its site with Soto Cano Air Base, long used by the Honduran Air Force and, under a joint arrangement, by United States military personnel. Palmerola's considerably longer runway allows wide-body jets and improves safety margins that had limited operations at the old city airport for decades. The terminal was built through a public-private investment aimed at modernizing Honduran air travel and boosting tourism and trade access to the central highlands. Toncontin continues to handle smaller domestic flights even after Palmerola assumed most international service.