Carrasco General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport

Carrasco General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport is the principal international airport of Uruguay and an architecturally distinguished South American gateway, widely regarded as one of the most elegantly designed contemporary airports on the continent. Named for Uruguayan aviation pioneer Cesáreo Berisso, MVD handles 33 scheduled routes to 22 nonstop destinations operated by 17 airlines, with traffic weighted toward intra-Mercosur connectivity and transatlantic service. The airport operates two concrete runways: the primary 10,499 ft (3,200 m) lighted 07/25 and the secondary 7,382 ft (2,250 m) lighted 01/19, at 105 ft (32 m) elevation 18 km (11 mi) east of central Montevideo. The passenger terminal, designed by Uruguayan Pritzker laureate Rafael Viñoly and opened in 2009, features a 365-meter-long single-sweep curved roof that became an immediate icon of contemporary Latin American airport architecture. The terminal consolidates all commercial operations in a single linear building with a glass-walled airside concourse facing the apron. Internationally significant as the aviation gateway to Uruguay's uniquely concentrated tourism market — the country's 3.4 million residents receive nearly 4 million international visitors annually, predominantly from Argentina and Brazil — and as a key connecting point for transatlantic traffic to Madrid (operated by Iberia and Air Europa), São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima, and Panama City. The MVD-AEP and MVD-EZE routes to Buenos Aires are among the busiest short-haul international city pairs in the Americas. Puma Energy operates as the airport concessionaire under Corporación América Airports, which also operates Buenos Aires-EZE and several Argentine and Armenian airports.