The new airport concession will have an investment of US$56.7 million and includes the expansion of the passenger terminal from 4,360 to 13,260 m2, thus tripling its surface area.
As part of her visit to the Coquimbo Region, this Thursday the Minister of Public Works, Jessica López, together with the Undersecretary of Tourism, Verónica Pardo; the presidential delegate of Coquimbo, Galo Luna, and the official governor, Javier Vega, led the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion works at La Florida Airport in La Serena.
The new facility will require an investment of US$56.7 million and includes the expansion of the passenger terminal from 4,360 to 13,260 m2, tripling its surface area.
The head of the MOP highlighted that “it is an important milestone to begin the remodeling works of this airport. It will be carried out by the concessionaire company that was awarded the construction and operation of the La Florida airport for the next 20 years. These are works that triple the size of the passenger terminal and will leave it with a state-of-the-art infrastructure, which is what we are developing throughout the country. Energy efficiency, new accesses and mobility for all people. It is a great joy because this region deserved an airport of this standard.”
The project details include a series of complementary works that seek to improve the experience of the thousands of users who visit this tourist area every year through this facility, including the construction of two boarding bridges that do not exist today, three baggage carousels, four inspection machines and 16 counters for airlines.
It also includes 175 new public parking spaces for taxis, buses, minibuses, car rentals and others. Also new access roads, traffic light-controlled intersections, bus stops and their shelters, in addition to landscaping and green areas, as well as the development of new loading areas, electrical substations for both the DGAC and the Concessionaires Society and new roads, among other works.
The main airport in the Coquimbo Region, operated by Red de Aeropuertos, has successfully met a series of contractual milestones that established the bidding rules, and is now in a position to begin the long-awaited modernization work on its infrastructure.
The construction works are expected to generate direct employment for around 500 workers, in addition to other positions that will be added in the new spaces that will be enabled with the modernization of the infrastructure.
“It will be an important project and closely linked to the consolidation of one of the main vocations of the Coquimbo Region, which is tourism; we believe that this new infrastructure will be a relevant contribution to the development of our cities and the connection of their inhabitants with other places in Chile and the continent,” said Red de Aeropuertos.
