Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport
Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport
Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci) (IATA: SIG, ICAO: TJIG, FAA LID: SIG), commonly known as Isla Grande Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto de Isla Grande) is a small airport in Puerto Rico serving the capital municipality of San Juan and its metropolitan area since 1929. Named after U.S. Air Force Major Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci, the 102 acres (41 ha) airport is located on San Juan Bay in the Isla Grande district of Santurce barrio in San Juan, about 2 to 6 miles (3.2 to 9.7 km) from the Old San Juan historic quarter, Condado and Isla Verde resort areas, Hato Rey business center, and SJU main airport. It is situated in-between the San Juan Cruise Port, and the Puerto Rico Convention Center and the Distrito T-Mobile entertainment center. While its primary activity is general aviation, Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport also handles small private international flights and commercial domestic flights, particularly between the main island and the Spanish Virgin Islands of Vieques and Culebra. It processed 35,871 total passengers in 2024.
Location
18.457°N, 66.098°O · 3 m s. n. m. (10 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 5 Official publication
Tower
Ground
ATIS (automatic information)
Approach
Frequencies from the official publication: FAA NASR, AIRAC 01 OCT 2026, checked on Oct 16, 2026. They change with each amendment: not for navigation without checking the current AIP. See the official publication In MHz.
History
Originally constructed by the U.S. Navy as Naval Air Station Isla Grande prior to World War II in 1929, the facility also served as Puerto Rico's main international airport until 1954, when Isla Verde International Airport (subsequently renamed Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in 1985) was built. Until that year, all international airlines, such as Deutsche Luft Hansa, Iberia Airlines, Delta and Pan Am, flew to Isla Grande.
Until 1971, the airport also hosted Coast Guard Air Station San Juan. That year, the Coast Guard relocated its air station to Ramey Air Force Base on Puerto Rico's northwest coast.
Isla Grande was renamed in honor of United States Air Force Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci, an F-111 pilot who was killed in action during Operation El Dorado Canyon (the 1986 airstrike of Libya).
A controversy regarding Isla Grande and Dorado Airport surfaced in 2003. Dorado Airport wanted to expand and attract the private aviation sector that has been Isla Grande's main business for so long. Dorado airport eventually became a victim of urban development in Dorado and no longer exists.
In early 2003, it was announced that the Puerto Rico Grand Prix would be held on a 1.6 mile, 10-turn, temporary circuit on the airport's runway and taxiways as the season final of the 2003 SCCA Trans Am Series. The race, held on October 26, 2003, was won by Puerto Rican native Wally Castro. The event was initially on the 2004 Trans-Am Series schedule, but was cancelled a month before its running.
In 2006, after a detailed impact study and many rumors about the future of the airport, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced that Isla Grande airport would remain open for the foreseeable future, mostly because of its key function as the primary reliever for the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
On August 4, 2011, the FAA announced that they were planning to close the airport's control tower due to budget cuts, since they operate it instead of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority.
On July 8, 2012, airport officials denied via written communication to a local newspaper of "any plans to eliminate or privatize the airport, since the airport is one of the most important airports for general aviation on Puerto Rico, taking into account that its operation approximates around 300 daily operations." On that same newspaper it was published that Seaborne Airlines, a regional air carrier, would transition its scheduled passenger operations to the neighboring San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU) with complete pullout on January 16, 2013.
For a short period of time between 2007 and 2009, the airport became the flight hub of Puerto Rico's unofficial flag carrier, Prinair, when that airline briefly returned to operating.
Airlines operating here · 2
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Jonathan Palombo · CC BY 2.0 · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 16, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 16). Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG). Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG
MLA
“Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 16 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 16, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG (Accessed: 24 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_sig,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-16},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG}},
urldate = {2026-10-24},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-24}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/SIG |title=Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-16 |access-date=2026-10-24 |language=en}}