François-Regis Le Miere, the recently assumed General Manager of Nuevo Pudahuel, responsible for the concession of Santiago de Chile’s main airport, said that his new challenge, in addition to the construction of the new Domestic Terminal (T1), is to seek progress in the solutions regarding the compensation he has requested from the Chilean Ministry of Public Works (MOP) because of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to an interview given to El Mercurio, the manager foresees a recovery of passenger flow before the pandemic in 2025.
With respect to the compensation, which is in dispute at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) due to the failure to reach an agreement with the previous administration, the executive of the Vinci Aeroports Group mentions that after the change of government they are seeking to generate trust, in addition to seeking solutions to the problems.
Regis Le Miere also indicates that the new AMB National Terminal has been drawn since 2013, for which the works will begin soon. These works are within the initial investments of the Vinci group close to USD $ 1,000 million in addition to injecting another USD $ 50 million. «T1 is an investment of USD $50 million and as for deadlines, we are working with the MOP to finish the detail designs. I would estimate that there will be a first phase that will last throughout 2023 and a second phase that will take us to mid or late 2024» (sic).
Regarding flow recovery, in 2019 Chile’s main airport mobilized 24.6 million passengers. The manager indicates that «we are 30% below the traffic that we call reference, which is 2019», reaffirming the initial estimate of recovery for 2025, since a traffic of 18.8 million people is expected in 2022.
Le Miere affirms that it is fundamental for Nuevo Pudahuel to reach an agreement, dialoguing with the MOP to find points in common and thus «…look both towards a future together», although he regrets that there is a delay in the Duty Free shops tender. The former General Manager, Xavier Lortat-Jacob, even indicated on several occasions that the financial situation of the concessionaire was delicate and even close to bankruptcy.
After the covid storm, carriers return
Le Miere also informed that agreements were closed with two airlines for his return to Chile: Qantas (which, as we indicated in aviacionline.com starts on October 31) and Level, Iberia’s low cost, by the end of 2022 as we also mentioned.
By 2023, the executive would seek to resume the return of Emirates and GOL Linhas Aéreas.
GOL Linhas Aéreas
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