Chile inaugurates new Santiago international airport terminal

Communiqué from New Pudahuel

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

Sebastián Piñera, the President of the Republic of Chile, together with the Ministers of Transport and Telecommunications, Mrs. Gloria Hutt and Public Works, Mr. Alfredo Moreno and Xavier Lortat-Jacob, General Manager of the Nuevo Pudahuel Consortium, inaugurated the new international terminal from the Santiago airport , which will begin receiving its first passengers this Monday 28th.

The inauguration of the new 248,400 m² terminal turns Santiago de Chile airport into an international hub, the most modern in South America. With the expansion of the existing terminal, now reassigned to domestic traffic, the capacity of the Santiago airport more than doubles, going from 16 to 38 million passengers per year. The work was carried out in less than five years by VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Astaldi .

This operation represents an investment of 990 million dollars (860 million euros), the largest in the last 20 years of infrastructure concession history in Chile. It reflects the long-term commitment of the concessionaires with the Chilean economy, through the development of air connectivity. The new building will make it possible to respond to the growth in traffic that began since the start of the concession in 2015. The Santiago airport received 24.6 million passengers in 2019 thanks to the opening of 20 new international destinations and the arrival of six new airlines.

The work will improve the passenger experience. With this new terminal, waiting times are expected to be considerably reduced by 96 automatic check-in kiosks, 64 baggage claim counters, 40% more immigration counters and a new baggage handling system. The terminal also includes new shopping areas, restaurants and services, such as a breastfeeding room, an open theater for up to 250 seats and an event and exhibition area, as well as green areas, more than 6,000 parking spaces, a bus station, new lounges VIP and spaces for the exhibition of Chilean art.

Santiago Airport is immersed in an active environmental transition process supported by Groupe ADP 's Environment plan and VINCI Airports' AirPact policy. They have allowed the airport to become one of the first in South America to reach Level 2 of the ACA (Airport Carbon Accreditation) issued by the ACI (Airports Council International).

10,336 traditional lights have been replaced by other LEDs, reducing lighting energy consumption by 70%. Emissions from land transport are also reduced thanks to six new electric buses that entered service last July. More than seven hectares have also been reforested on the airport grounds and more than 600 trees have been donated to the municipality of Pudahuel.

This dynamic is added to a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 826 KW installed on the roof of the existing terminal. The goal is to reduce the airport's carbon footprint by 40% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Xavier Lortat-Jacob, General Manager of the Nuevo Pudahuel Consortium highlighted that the work states that “all the experience and knowledge of our shareholders in the operation and construction of airports in the world was used. We are delivering to Chile a new gateway to Chile, which meets the highest international standards, further strengthens the attractiveness of the Santiago airport, which contributes to strengthening Chile's connectivity with the world and responding to its potential as a center of business, tourism and innovation in Latin America”.

Santiago airport is operated under a 20-year concession started in February 2015 through Consorcio Nuevo Pudahuel, made up of Groupe ADP (45%), VINCI Airports (40%) and Astaldi Concessioni (15%).