The Sociedad Concesionaria Aeropuerto El Loa P3 company (Sacyr Concesiones and Agunsa) started operations on the Loa Airport in Calama, Chile, last Sunday October 1st. This P3 project includes an investment of close to €102 million (2,650,000 UF) for a maximum period of 26 years.
The contract includes the operation, expansion, improvement, and maintenance works of the airport facility to tend to the increasing passenger demand. The expansion will triple the terminal’s capacity to receive over 8 million passengers per year, promoting the local economy and national and international travel.
Triple terminal capacity
The project comprises tripling the passenger terminal’s surface from 9,763 to 30,378 sqm. Additionally, the ramp area for commercial aircrafts will be doubled in size, from 22,000 to 42,000 sqm, and five hangars will be built, which will allow to feature four remote stands and increase the number of passenger boarding bridges to seven.
Security and immigration services will also be improved, obeying to the expected increase in job creation and in national and international flights to this mining region.
El Loa de Calama airport is the third most transited in Chile. Last year, 1,786,552 passengers used the airport; and 1.4 million did from January to August 2023. Back in 2019, before the pandemic, that figure was 2,273,160 passengers
Fernando Ruiz de la Torre, General manager with Sacyr Concesiones Chile insisted on this project’s significance. “We know how important this airport is to northern Chile, a key connection from Antofagasta to the rest of the country, and hence, its mining workforce. We will bring the company’s expertise to this project, from being operators in other airports in Chile, such as El Tepual in Puerto Montt, and Chacalluta, in Arica, both with our partner Agunsa. Moreover, we count on Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure, as one of the Sacyr Group branches for overseeing the future expansion of the airport area”.
