Morales ordered 220 troops to take control of the airport Thursday after workers threatened to block flights that did not pay landing fees to local officials rather than the national airport authority. Among the carriers affected was American Airlines.
The dispute quickly became a flashpoint between Bolivia's national government and a region seeking greater autonomy.
At least two soldiers were wounded Thursday, one by gunfire, and local hospitals reported that about 20 other people were injured, some by tear gas fired by troops to repel protesters shouting, "The airport belongs to Santa Cruz!"
Santa Cruz Governor Ruben Costas called on residents yesterday to retake the airport and thousands responded, marching past startled passengers into the terminal and waving clubs and green-and-white Santa Cruz flags.
Planes continued to land and take off yesterday, though passengers who had boarded one flight had to disembark because the air traffic controllers brought in with the troops had left and the returning old controllers were not yet back.
The flight left later in the day and the head of the local airport authority said operations were back to normal.
Morales's top aide, Juan Ramon Quintana, called the seizure of the airport "a defeat for the people of Santa Cruz and the people of Bolivia." But the government appeared to accept the airport's return to local control, and said it hoped local officials would root out the corruption it said was marring operations at the airport.
Morales said he sent in troops because airport workers demanded air crews pay up to $2,000 in cash as an alternative to landing fees paid to the national airport authority.
"Preserving the good image of the airports is an obligation," Morales said. "Viru Viru was doing poorly, making illegal charges."
American Airlines canceled two flights through Santa Cruz on Wednesday and one Thursday, and flew a plane out empty of passengers on Tuesday.
The airline, a unit of Dallas-based AMR Corp., said it was back to its normal two flights through San Cruz yesterday.
The airport conflict has broad political implications because Santa Cruz, the nation's largest and wealthiest province, has resisted Morales's efforts to nationalize industries and redistribute land and wealth to Bolivia's poor majority.
