Did you know Bogotá El Dorado’s original 1959 sign of eight iron letters is back on display?

The sign that greeted travellers at Bogotá’s El Dorado airport for 53 years, eight wrought-iron letters installed beneath the control tower on 28 October 1959, has been restored and put on permanent display in Terminal 2, formerly known as Puente Aéreo, according to Colombia’s civil aviation authority, Aerocivil.

The letters were removed in 2012 during modernisation works. In 2025 they underwent a conservative restoration carried out jointly by the airport concessionaire OPAIN and Aerocivil, and they can now be photographed and shared by the public.

El Dorado itself opened in 1959 to replace Techo aerodrome. Aerocivil explains that between 1929 and 1959 several air terminals were built in Bogotá before Techo, and that the new airport doubled capacity. Its name evokes the legendary city of gold linked to the Muisca people and the Guatavita lagoon. The largest renovation in the airport’s history began in 2007 and concluded in 2017, and in 2012 it was renamed Aeropuerto Internacional El Dorado Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento.

According to Aerocivil, El Dorado is Colombia’s leading airport for passengers and cargo, serving 102 destinations, 45 domestic and 57 international. Passengers with time to spare in Terminal 2 can look for the restored letters, but should check their departure terminal with their airline before travelling, as El Dorado operates more than one terminal.