The Government of Chile presented the Airports Plan 2025-2030, which aims to strengthen the country’s airport network. The presentation, led by the Minister of Public Works, Jessica López, and the National Director of Airports, Claudia Silva, seeks to generate greater connectivity and tourism.
The plan includes the intervention of 19 airports across the country to improve the airport infrastructure of passenger terminals, runways, and ground equipment. The project is being driven through the Directorate of Airports and the concession system.
The Minister of Public Works, Jessica López, said that “In Chile, there are over 300 airfields and airports, including private, public, and military, among others. But there is a set of airports, which we call our primary network, that receive commercial flights, and we want to review that situation. By 2030, we have a work plan that considers an investment by the Directorate of Airports of nearly USD $1.5 billion and, by the Directorate of Concessions, nearly USD $1.8 billion.”
The official assured that the mission of her ministry is to ensure the connectivity of the territory, mentioning that the airport network is what allows a faster connection, with higher prices than by land, although it has developed enormously over the past decades.
The project will have an investment of 1.8 billion dollars from the concessionaire companies for works on the terminals of the twelve airports under this model, which will be joined by the airports of the Southern Airport Network: Pichoy, Cañal Bajo, El Tepual, and Mocopulli. The Directorate of Airports will contribute 1.5 billion dollars for works on the runways, aircraft platforms, and taxiways, among others.
Current works
The Diego Aracena Airport, in Iquique, is in the final phase of expansion works for its terminals, which will begin operations this summer. These works seek to respond to future demands that, according to projections from the Ministry of Public Works, will increase in the coming years, transforming it into the second most important airport in Chile, after Arturo Merino Benítez.
A 112 million dollar investment will be made in the construction of a temporary terminal at Mataveri, Rapa Nui, and works will begin at the Torquemada airfield to enable it to receive commercial flights, with an investment of 82.9 million dollars. In the coming weeks, the expansion and improvement of the Teniente Marsh airfield in Antarctica will begin, with an investment of 53 million dollars.
Finally, there is a significant portfolio of airport infrastructure that is under construction or will begin construction before 2030. This includes interventions in 13 airports in Chile, among which stand out:
- Chacalluta Airport, in Arica;
- Diego Aracena Airport, in Iquique;
- The Northern Airport Network (Antofagasta and Atacama);
- La Florida Airport, in La Serena;
- Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez Airport, in Santiago;
- La Araucanía Airport; in Temuco/Freire
- The Southern Airport Network, which will be tendered in 2025 and begin works in 2027 (Pichoy, Cañal Bajo, El Tepual, and Mocopulli);
- The Austral Airport Network (Aysén and Magallanes).
