Las Américas Airport opened in 1959 as the official airport of Ciudad Trujillo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, with the city subsequently changing its name to Santo Domingo. The official name of the airport was changed in 2002 to "Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas- José Francisco Peña Gómez (AIJFPG)" but is known as "Las Américas International Airport", or locally, "Las Américas Airport, AILA or "El Aeropuerto". In April 1953, Chicago and Southern Air Lines, a U.S. based air carrier, was operating a weekly Lockheed Constellation service into Ciudad Trujillo with a southbound routing of Memphis - New Orleans - Port-au-Prince - Ciudad Trujillo - San Juan, PR and a northbound routing of San Juan - Ciudad Trujillo - Port-au-Prince - New Orleans - Memphis - St. Louis - Chicago. By 1954, U.S. based Delta Air Lines (which was known as "Delta C&S" at the time following its acquisition and merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines in May 1953) was serving the Dominican Republic on a daily basis via the then-named General Andrews Airport in Ciudad Trujillo with nonstop flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico and Port au Prince, Haiti operated with Convair 340 twin prop aircraft. The eastbound Delta flights operated a daily routing of Houston - New Orleans - Havana, Cuba - Port-au-Prince - Ciudad Trujillo - San Juan and the westbound Delta flights operated a daily routing of San Juan - Ciudad Trujillo - Port-au-Prince - Havana - New Orleans. Also during the mid-1950s, U.S. based Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was serving Ciudad Trujillo with nonstop flights to New York City, Miami and Port-au-Prince operated with Douglas DC-6 four engine propliners (which the airline called the "Super-6 Clipper"). In 1960, locally based Dominicana de Aviacion, the former flag carrier of the Dominican Republic, was operating scheduled international passenger service nonstop between the airport and Miami with Douglas DC-4 four engine propliners and also nonstop between the airport and San Juan, Puerto Rico with Douglas DC-3 and Curtiss C-46 twin prop aircraft. By the early and mid-1960s, several airlines were operating international jet service from the airport including Pan Am with Boeing 707 service nonstop to New York City, Miami, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Kingston, Jamaica and Curaçao as well as direct, no change of plane 707 service to Montego Bay, Caracas, Port of Spain, Georgetown, Guyana and Paramaribo while Brazil-based VARIG was operating Sud Aviation Caravelle and Convair 990 jetliner flights nonstop to New York City and Miami as well as direct, no change of plane jet service to Port of Spain, Belém, Fortaleza, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. By 1976, the airport was being served by American Airlines with nonstop Boeing 707 and Boeing 747 flights from New York City, Dominicana de Aviacion with nonstop Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 707-399C, Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 (leased aircraft) service from New York City, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, Eastern Airlines with nonstop Boeing 727-100 service from San Juan, Puerto Rico as well as direct, no change of plane 727 flights from Cleveland and Miami, Pan Am with nonstop Boeing 707 service from Port au Prince as well as direct, one stop 707 service from Miami, ALM Antillean Airlines with nonstop and direct one stop McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 service from Curaçao, Viasa with nonstop Douglas DC-8 service from Curaçao and direct one stop DC-8 flights from Caracas, and locally based Aerovias Quisqueyana with nonstop Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 service from Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Also in 1976, Aerovias Quisqueyana was operating nonstop Boeing 707 transatlantic service from the airport to Madrid with this flight also providing direct one stop service to Rome.