Escobar International Airport in GTA Vice City, as viewed to the south.
EIA covers most of the left side as seen here.
Escobar International Airport, also known as Vice City International Airport (VCIA), is the airport in Vice City featured in both Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
Further north is the Fort Baxter Air Base, a military installation that houses military equipment and personnel, while Viceport (also referred to in road signs as "Vice Port"), the city's seaport, is located to the southeast.
Description
Structures
Escobar International consists of three terminals, one at the north which is a standard blocky terminal with the addition of below-ground entrances, the other passenger terminal to the south is more distinctive, with its weaved roof and massive glass wall facing the airport's southern side. The southern terminal is also distinctive in that the player can easily enter the building and explore its spacious interior, the only airport to feature a normally accessible interior; however, the only access points to the terminal building are equipped with metal detectors that automatically leave the player's weapons, if any, outside whenever the player enters the building. Both passenger terminals are separated by lawns and a short term car park.
The third terminal is the Freight and Cargo Terminal, south east of both terminals; in 1984, the setting for GTA Vice City Stories, however, there is no clear sign the Freight and Cargo Terminal exists. Escobar International also has a V.I.P. Terminal, as well as a long term car park, next to Vice City Transport Police headquarters.
Tarmac area
The tarmac area at dusk as viewed northwards in GTA Vice City.
The airport tarmac itself is largely non-interactive. The tarmac, predictably, is occupied by non-interactive passengers plane and private jets, while the former may also be seen taking off and landing at the airport's runways. In addition, no controllable aircraft can be found within the airport in GTA Vice City while GTA Vice City Stories' rendition of the airport spawns a Maverick, Sparrow, Hunter and a Biplane after completion of certain missions. In both games, the player can also find Baggage Handlers driven by Security Guards traveling along a predetermined route within the tarmac area.
Influences
EIA does not appear to be based on any particular real-life airport, although it is located similarly to that in Miami, and the airport's logo is quite obviously based on MIA's logo; the airport is situated on its own peninsula in the southwest of the city. The most significant airport in real-life Miami is Opa-Locka Executive Airport.
Airlines
Vehicles
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Baggage Handler (4)
- Packer
- Top Fun (starts RC Raider Pickup)
- Sentinel XS (parking lot)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
- Baggage Handler (3)
- Maverick (starts Vice Sights)
- Hunter (starts Skywolf)
- Biplane (2, one on the diagonal runway and another inside a hangar, starts Crims on Wings and Hyman Memorial O.D.T., respectively)
- Sparrow
- Firetruck
- Yola
- Rio
- Virgo (parking lot)
- Comet (parking lot)
- Sabre Turbo (parking lot)
Prominent Mission Appearances
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Gallery
 Exterior of Escobar International's main terminal, GTA Vice City.  Interior of Escobar International's main terminal, GTA Vice City.  The Vice City Transport Police building, with the airport parking lot in view to the right.  Interior of Escobar International's main terminal in GTA Vice City Stories.  Exterior of Escobar International's main terminal in GTA Vice City Stories. .jpg "Plane (1366 x 768).jpg (237 KB)") Plane landing on Escobar International  The Escobar International's aircraft fuel depot. |
Bugs
- In both GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, the player can see the beta Control Tower while the screen of mainland island is loading, known as Ghost Tower.
- In GTA Vice City Stories, a bug may allow the player to enter planes that land on the runway.
- In GTA Vice City Stories, if the player gets hit by a plane, the player is sent to a random spot in Vice City (also known as the teleporter bug).
- In GTA Vice City Stories (PS2 version), the player can access the Vice Beach section of the city early if they jump from the gravel pit ramp (with a police bribe in front of it) towards the pipes below, which teleports the player to Leaf Links.
Trivia
- There's some advertisements featured around the airport, like Fun World (a nod to Disney World in Florida), Vacations to Liberty City (depicting Claude driving a Moonbeam and a damaged Taxi behind him) or the real life Dundee, Scotland (Rockstar North being based in Scotland), The Russell Hotel and several of the airlines featured in the game.
- In the cutscene where Ken Rosenberg picks up Tommy, Harry, and Lee from the airport terminal, an airplane can be seen landing on the curved runway, which is impossible. The runway was straight in the beta.
- The airport is most likely named after the infamous Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar, who was known as a main cocaine importer in Miami. This name may also serve as an ironic joke, referring to the plane bombing orchestrated by Escobar in 1989.
- The logo of Escobar International Airport is very similar the logo of the Miami International Airport.
- The planes that move land in the airport, go onto another runway, then take off again without stopping, then land in the airport again.
- Escobar International Airport is the only airport in the series to feature an accessible interior.
- Escobar International Airport is the largest airport featured in the 3D Universe.
| Airports in the 3D Universe | |
|---|---|
| Liberty City | Francis International Airport |
| Vice City | Escobar International Airport |
| San Andreas | Los Santos International Airport | Easter Bay Airport | Las Venturas Airport | Verdant Meadows Airfield |