Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport
Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport Pudahuel Airport Santiago International Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public and Military | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | SCL Aeropuerto de Santiago | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Pudahuel, Santiago Metropolitan Region - Chile | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,555 ft / 474 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°23′34″S 70°47′08″W / 33.39278°S 70.78556°W | ||||||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2009) | |||||||||||||||
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Passenger Statistics from Aeropuerto de Santiago | |||||||||||||||
Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (IATA: SCL, ICAO: SCEL), also known as Pudahuel Airport and Santiago International Airport, located in Pudahuel, 15 km (9.3 miles) north-west of downtown Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility and the busiest international air passenger gateway to the country. A. Merino Benítez International Airport has international service to Europe, Oceania and the Americas. It served 9,024,611 passengers in 2009, being the 9th busiest airport in Latin America and the 6th busiest in South America by passenger traffic. It is the 7th busiest airport in Latin America by aircraft movements, serving 104,000 operations[1]. It is also a major connecting point for air traffic between Oceania and Latin America.
The Airport is owned by the Chilean State and operated since July 1998 by SCL Terminal Aéreo Santiago S.A. Sociedad Concesionaria, a consortium of companies formed by Agunsa (Chile), Grupo ACS (Spain) and Vancouver Airport Services (Canada). The Air traffic control is handled by the DGAC (Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil- Chile). Its ICAO category is 4E. In addition, it is the main hub and maintenance center for LAN Airlines and Sky Airline. The airport functions as a joint civil-military facility. It is the headquarters of the Chilean Air Force 2nd Air Brigade and where its 10th Aviation Group is based.
History
Early years
The old terminal building, the first runway (17L/35R), control tower, East apron and cargo facilities were built between 1961 and 1967. It was officially opened on February 2, 1967. The airport was originally called Aeropuerto Internacional de Pudahuel, due to its location in that municipality; It replaced Los Cerrillos Airport (ICAO: SCTI; IATA: ULC), given the urban pressure and the need for longer, upgraded runways and terminals to receive intercontinental flights (mainly Boeing 707's, 727's, MD-10 and later B474's).
The name of the airport was rechristened on March 19, 1980 in honour of the Chilean Air Force and LAN Airlines founder: Air Commodore Arturo Merino Benítez.
On March 3, 1985, Santiago was struck by a strong earthquake. (See 1985 Santiago earthquake) . The Airport suffered no structural damage, but the collapse of false ceilings was reported to hurt some passengers.
Current passenger terminal
The facility was expanded in 1994 with a new international terminal that covers 90,000 squared meters, inspired by the architecture of Marseille Provence Airport, France. The building is located between the 2 parallel runways. This expansion added a new control tower, jetways, a duty-free zone, hotel, and greater parking area. The old terminal was used for domestic flights until 2001, when all passenger operations were merged into the same building. In the following years, minor expansions have taken place, such as the inclusion of additional jetways.
The terminal building has 4 levels. The airport services are distributed in the following way:
- Ground Floor: Arrivals, Duty Free Shop, baggage claim, Customs and Border Control, Transport Services, Parking areas, Holiday Inn Hotel access.
- First Floor: Administrative offices, VIP lounges (Access through the second floor).
- Second Floor: Departures, Check-in areas, Border Control Police, Duty Free Shops, Restaurants, boarding halls and gates.
- Third Floor: Restaurants.
The terminal building hosts the following services: Bank office (A branch of Banco Santander), Chilean Automobile Club, Telecommunication Companies (Claro, Movistar and Entel PCS), Pharmacy, Travel Agencies, Insurance (Mapfre, AIG-Interamericana), Police Station (Carabineros de Chile).
In 2000, Lan Chile joined OneWorld, making of Arturo Merino Benitez Airport a main hub for the alliance, its first one in Latin America and its second in the Southern Hemisphere (After Qantas' Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport in Australia).
During the 2010 Chile Earthquake, the passenger terminal building suffered internal damages and the collapse of a pedestrian bridge between the vehicle ramp and the departures area. Nevertheless, both runways and control tower were unharmed, alllowing the realization of a massive humanitarian air-bridge held by the Chilean Air Force to Concepción, Chile (Carriel Sur International Airport), close to the most damaged area by this earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The airport authority had closed off all commercial flight operations after around 1200 UTC on February 27, resuming full operations on March 3rd, 2010.[2] .[3]
Second runway
Construction on Runway 17R/35L began in 2004 and opened to traffic in September 2005. However, within months defects were discovered and the runway required repairing, completed in January 2006. Unfortunately further study of the problem discovered that the initial repairs were insufficient, needing additional work. Finally, 17R/35L reopened for traffic in March 2007.
Future Expansion
In 2008, the airport terminal reached its maximum design capacity of 9.5 million annual passengers, 2 years in advance to forecast. This tight scenario is already showing a downgrade in the overall airport services, especially in the border control, check-in and baggage claim areas where queues are frequent in some early and late hours of the day.
For this reason, and with the repairs needed after the 2010 Chile Earthquake, the Ministry of Public Works informed that it will call for a tender in 2012 for the expansion and administration of the airport, 2 years prior to the end of the contract with the current operator.
The ministry decided to raise a whole new airport master plan instead of an expansion of the single passenger terminal building, as initially proposed by the current operator. The feasibility studies for this master plan will cost 4,560 Million Chilean Pesos (USD 9.4 Million) considered in the 2011 Fiscal Budget. For this new master plan, the Government has hired the consultancy services of Aéroports de Paris Ingeniérie (ADP-I), the architecture, engineering and technical branch of the French airport corporation.[4]
The expansion will take into account a capacity growth to 34 Million annual passengers by year 2034 and 50 Million passengers by 2045. This plan will consider new detached passenger terminal buildings for International and Domestic flights, additional commercial areas and the construction of a light railway connecting the airport with the Santiago Metro network.[5]
Amenities
Hotels
- Holiday Inn Hotels finished in July 2007 the construction of a 5-floor building, internally connected to both terminals (International and domestic), with private parking slots and special services for passengers and guests. The hotel has 112 rooms, restaurants, bars, room-service, a conference hall for 170 people, gym, covered swimming pool, spa and wi-fi internet access.
- Hotel Diego de Almagro is located 2km outside the airport area.
Shopping
The Santiago International Airport has four tax-free shops that offer a wide range of products to supply any need customers may have. They are handled by the spanish Duty-free operator Aldeasa. One of them is located just after the police border control at departures, while another one is located before the baggage claim area.[6]
Souvenirs, jewelry, Chilean handcrafts and Wine Shops, music and accessories among others, are available in more than 70 stores from well-known international and national brands.
Restaurants
Santiago Airport has 21 well-known restaurants, coffee shops, and bars, located in the public area and in the national and international departing lounges. International franchises include Starbucks Coffee, Ruby Tuesday (restaurant), Boost & Juice, Caffriccio and Dunkin' Donuts.
VIP and frequent-flyer services
VIP services are offered in both terminals. In the International terminal, the operators are: LAN Airlines with the Neruda Lounge and the Mistral Lounge, American Airlines (Admirals Club), and the SkyTeam alliance (Delta Air Lines Sky Club); in addition to the unaffiliated lounges, such as Pacific Club.
LAN Airlines operates a special check-in area in the western part of the main hall (Second floor) for VIP, Business and First Class travellers, and Sapphire and Emerald OneWorld status frequent flyers.
Terminals, airlines and destinations
There is an international terminal (I), with 10 gates (numbered 10-20; no gate 13) and a smaller domestic terminal (D) with 8 gates (numbered 21-28).
| Airlines | Destinations | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Aerolíneas Argentinas | Buenos Aires-Aeroparque | I |
| Aeroméxico | Mexico City | I |
| Air Canada | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Toronto-Pearson | I |
| Air France | Paris-Charles de Gaulle | I |
| American Airlines | Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami | I |
| Avianca | Bogotá | I |
| Copa Airlines | Panama City | I |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta | I |
| Gol Airlines | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos | I |
| Iberia | Madrid | I |
| LAN Airlines | Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Calama, Hanga Roa, Iquique, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas | D |
| LAN Airlines | Arica, Auckland, Bogotá, Buenos Aires-Aeroparque, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cancún, Caracas, Córdoba, Frankfurt, Guayaquil, Hanga Roa, Havana, Iquique, La Paz, Lima, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mendoza, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, Mount Pleasant, New York-JFK, Papeete, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Punta Cana, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Sydney, Toronto-Pearson | I |
| LAN Argentina | Buenos Aires-Aeroparque, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza | I |
| LAN Ecuador | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Guayaquil, Quito | I |
| LAN Express | Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Calama, Concepción, Copiapó, Iquique, La Serena, Osorno, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Temuco, Valdivia | D |
| LAN Perú | Lima | I |
| PAL Airlines | Antofagasta, Arica, Calama, Copiapó, Iquique | D |
| PLUNA | Asunción, Montevideo, Punta Arenas | I |
| Sky Airline | Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Calama, Concepción, Copiapó, El Salvador, Iquique, La Serena, Puerto Natales, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Temuco | D |
| Sky Airline | Arequipa, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, La Paz, Lima | D |
| TACA operated by Lacsa | Lima | I |
| TACA Perú | Lima | I |
| TAM Airlines | Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos | I |
| TAM Airlines Paraguay | Asunción | I |
Top destinations
| Rank | City | Passengers | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Buenos Aires, Argentina (Ezeiza and Aeroparque Airports)
|
903,173 | Lan Airlines, LAN Argentina, Lan Ecuador, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Sky Airlines, Air Canada, GOL Airlines. |
| 2 |  São Paulo-Guarulhos, Brazil
|
532,481 | Lan Airlines, TAM Airlines, GOL Airlines. |
| 3 |  Lima, Perú
|
432,413 | Lacsa, Lan Airlines, LAN Perú, Sky Airlines, TACA Perú. |
| 4 |  Madrid, Spain
|
321,956 | Lan Airlines, Iberia |
| 5 |  Miami, FL, USA
|
257,297 | American Airlines, Lan Airlines. |
| 6 |  Montevideo, Uruguay
|
186,205 | Pluna, Lan Airlines. |
| 7 | Mendoza, Argentina
|
176,355 | Lan Airlines. |
| 8 |  Mexico City, Mexico
|
141,729 | AeroMéxico, Lan Airlines. |
| 9 |  Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France
|
132,658 | Air France, Lan Airlines. |
| 10 | Rio de Janeiro-Gãleao, Brazil
|
130,584 | Lan Airlines, TAM, Gol Airlines. |
| 11 |  Panama City, Panama
|
125,984 | COPA Airlines. |
| 12 | Cordoba, Argentina
|
121,594 | Lan Airlines. |
| 13 |  Bogotá, Colombia
|
111,509 | Avianca, Lan Airlines |
| 14 | Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX, USA
|
105,452 | American Airlines |
| 15 | Atlanta, GA, USA
|
97,114 | Delta Airlines |
| 16 | New York-JFK, NY, USA
|
88,063 | Lan Airlines |
| 17 |  Auckland, New Zealand
|
71,230 | Lan Airlines |
| 18 |  Toronto-Pearson, Canada
|
70,369 | Lan Airlines, Air Canada. |
| 19 | Los Angeles, CA, USA
|
69,916 | Lan Airlines |
| 20 |  Sydney, NSW, Australia
|
69,397 | Lan Airlines |
| Rank | City | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Antofagasta
|
731,781 |
| 2 |  Concepción
|
536,062 |
| 3 |  Iquique
|
517,641 |
| 4 |  Puerto Montt
|
493,219 |
| 5 | Calama
|
448,260 |
| 6 |  Punta Arenas
|
349,335 |
| 7 |  Arica
|
259,026 |
| 8 |  Temuco
|
247,813 |
| 9 |  La Serena
|
241,701 |
| 10 |  Copiapó
|
188,813 |
| 11 |  Balmaceda
|
126,943 |
| 12 |  Easter Island
|
120,139 |
| 13 | Osorno
|
108,392 |
| 14 |  Valdivia
|
59,035 |
Cargo terminal
- Cargolux
- Centurion Air Cargo
- Cielos Airlines
- Florida West International Airways
- LAN Cargo
- Martinair Cargo
- MasAir
- Tampa Cargo
Ground transportation
Roads
Arturo Merino Benitez is about 17 kilometres (10.6 miles) by car from Santiago's city centre. The airport is well served by the 6-lane expressway Costanera Norte, which crosses through the city from West to East bordering the Mapocho river, while it is also well connected to the West, North and North-East of Santiago by the Vespucio Norte Express Ring motorway (Exit number 18).
Taxi
There are 2 official airport taxi services: Taxi Oficial and Taxi Vip, which can be contacted at their desks after the Baggage claim area.
Bus
Centropuerto buses connect the Airport with Los Héroes Station of Santiago Metro. Their frequency is every 10 minutes during weekdays and 15 minutes during weekends.
Accidents and incidents
No airline disasters have occurred at the site. However 3 flights with final destination SCL crashed en route:
- On April 28, 1969 LAN Chile Flight 160, a Boeing 727 arriving from Buenos Aires,Argentina, Ministro Pistarini International Airport, , crashed short of runway, 24 km North of Colina, Chile (50 km. North of Arturo Merino Benítez Airport). None of the 60 passengers and crew were injured in the accident, but the aircraft was written off.
- On October 13, 1972 a Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 chartered by a Uruguayan rugby team crashed into the Chilean Andes while en route to SCL. Of the 40 passengers and 5 crew members, 16 were found alive 72 days after the accident.
- On October 2, 1996, flight 603, an AeroPerú Boeing 757 flying the Miami-Lima-Santiago route crashed into the Pacific Ocean some minutes after its take off from Lima, Perú's Jorge Chávez International Airport, killing all on board.
In addition, during the late 1960's and 1970's, Latin America's political turmoil affected safety in air transportation:
- On July 4, 1973, an Aerolineas Argentinas Boeing 737-200 registration LV-JTO, with 77 passengers on board, departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was hijacked soon after its take off by a member of the ERP (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo - In English: People's Revolutionary Army). The aircraft was forced to land at Mendoza's El Plumerillo International Airport, flying subsequently to Santiago, where 49 passegeners were freed. The flight continued to Lima, Perú, where other 6 hostages were released. The aircraft finally landed in Havana, Cuba, where the hijacker asked for political assylum.
Minor Incidents:
- On November 10, 2010, American Airlines flight 912, a Boeing 767, with 138 people on board, with final destination Miami International Airport had to make a safe emergency landing a few minutes after its take off from Santiago due to a failure in the landing gear hydraulic system.[9]
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Reuters earthquake report". Reuters. February 27, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
- ^ Template:Fr icon Business Travel, "Aéroport de Santiago au Chili: retour à la normale mercredi", 2 March 2010 (accessed 3 March 2010)
- ^ http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id={c1deb637-fd84-471f-b3fc-c154b8b365c6}
- ^ http://diario.elmercurio.cl/detalle/index.asp?id={0fe29bf8-6d60-4552-b88e-0afdebf3b12b}
- ^ "Shopping and services". Aeropuerto de Santiago. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ http://www.jac-chile.cl/OpenSupport_EstadisticasVuelo/asp/pagDefault.asp?arginstanciaID=48
- ^ http://www.jac-chile.cl/OpenSupport_EstadisticasVuelo/asp/pagDefault.asp?arginstanciaID=48
- ^ http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/detalle/detallenoticias.asp?idnoticia=446605
External links
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