Santiago de Chile Airport opens US$990 million international terminal

The new terminal at Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport is billed as the most modern international airport hub in South America (Images from Nuevo Pudahuel)

CHILE. A new US$990 million 214,000sq m terminal building at Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport opened today after nearly six years of construction work. It is the largest airport infrastructure project ever completed in Chile.

The international Terminal 2 – which has an extensive retail and F&B offer – has more than doubled the capacity of the travel hub from 15 million to more than 30 million annual passengers.

Guests discuss the new terminal at an inauguration event on Saturday, with the new Britt Shop Chile store from Morpho Travel Experience in the background

The first flights take off from the terminal – which will host 15 major international airlines – on Wednesday after a three-day ‘transition mode’.

Built and operated by Nuevo Pudahuel – the company established by terminal partners VINCI Airports, Groupe ADP and Astaldi Concessioni – the new facility was inaugurated on Saturday in the presence of Chilean government officials and representatives from commerce and industry.

The new Terminal 2 hosts four new piers, connected to the central processor for Arrivals through interstitial corridors. There is a large retail, food & beverage concession programme, VIP lounges and extensive digital advertising fixtures.

Lead retail partners include Dufry (duty free), while in F&B Lagardère Travel Retail makes its market debut with Global Group Corporation. Other concessionaires include Morpho Travel Experience, which runs Britt Café Bakery and Britt Shop Chile.

Inside Morpho Travel Experience’s Britt Café Bakery, a new F&B offering in the terminal

The project has also increased the number of gates at Arturo Merino Benítez Airport from 31 to 76 and 96 new self check-in desks have been installed.

The other elements of the terminal project include a new station for 26 buses and two boulevards with an amphitheatre for 250 people and an exhibition centre.

Car parking capacity has been significantly expanded to over 6,000 spaces at the airport, with the addition of two new four-level parking buildings and two new surface parking lots.

The terminal is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to minimise waiting times for the processing of passengers and baggage, Nuevo Pudahuel said.

Designed by US engineering and architectural firm Stantec, and created in partnership with local architects Amunategui Barreau Arquitectos, the new terminal complex can be further expanded to cater for 38 million passengers annually.

Note: The Moodie Davitt Report is the industry’s most popular channel for launching commercial proposals and for publishing the results. If you wish to promote an Expression of Interest, Request for Proposals or full tender process for any sector of airport or other travel-related infrastructure revenues, simply e-mail Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com.

We have a variety of options that will ensure you reach the widest, most high-quality concessionaire/retailer/operator base in the industry – globally and immediately.

Similarly, The Moodie Davitt Report is the only international business intelligence service and industry media to cover all airport or other travel-related consumer services, revenue-generating and otherwise. We embrace all commercial revenues, including duty free and other retail, food & beverage, property, passenger lounges, hotels, car parking, hospital and other medical facilities, the Internet, advertising and related revenue streams.

Please send relevant material, including images, to Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com for instant, quality global coverage.

Food & Beverage The Magazine eZine