President Piñera officially opens international airport expansion in Concepción: “This will put us on the forefront in terms of airport infrastructure”
This project is part of both a national plan to expand airport infrastructure and a regional development program. The resulting increase in traffic will serve over 2 million national and international passengers per year.
On Wednesday, the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, opened the Carriel Sur Airport international terminal in the city of Concepción, the third busiest airport in the country.
This project is one pillar of the regional development plan for Biobío. The region, and the greater southern part of the country, will now have an airport with increased capacity to serve over 2 million national and international passengers per year.
“This will put us on the forefront in terms of airport infrastructure,” stated the President. He was accompanied by Regional Governor Sergio Giacaman and by Public Works Minister Alfredo Moreno, Economy Minister Lucas Palacios, and Transportation Minister Gloria Hutt, and others.
In terms of trade, the new infrastructure will make it possible to import and export directly from this region and decrease dependency on Santiago.
It will also allow international commercial flights to bypass Santiago. Two airlines are currently operating direct flights between Concepción and Lima, Peru. This has increased passenger capacity by 20%.
Total investment in this project is 22.2 billion Chilean pesos (US$ 29.5 million).
The project is part of the Airport Network Modernization Plan announced by President Piñera in 2019. It called for an analysis of the state and capacity of the country’s airport infrastructure, as well as prioritizing and planning investments in Chile for the 2018-2022 period, with an estimated total cost of US$ 1.4 billion.
“This, in conjunction with what we are accomplishing in terms of modernizing roadways and ports, in addition to the entire Public Works program that is being rolled out, will give Chile a facelift and provide the country with the infrastructure it needs to meet the demands of the 21st century,” stressed the President. He also emphasized the creation of jobs and the way in which this airport will further develop the region.