Colombia’s Unidad Administrativa Especial de Aeronáutica Civil, the state body in charge of regulating civil aviation in the country, approved last Wednesday a private initiative project to carry out modernisation and expansion works at Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG), which serves Cartagena de Indias.
The works would expand the capacity of the air terminal to receive up to 7.5 million passengers a year.
New international terminal, apron expansion and modernisation of facilities
According to the agency in a press release, the plan calls for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a new international passenger terminal. The building would cover a total area of 17.360 square metres.
In addition, the existing terminal would be remodelled and modernised, based on the intervention of 25.144 square metres of the building. The project also envisages the extension of the airport’s main apron, which would reach a total surface area of 99.770 square metres.
Five new boarding bridges will be installed, new aircraft parking stands and five new taxiways will be built. Finally, a new fuel storage area will be built and the airport hangars will be relocated.
#ComunicadoDePrensa | Consejo Directivo de la @AerocivilCol aprobó la iniciativa privada para la financiación, construcción, operación y mantenimiento del Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Nuñez de Cartagena (@aeroCTG)
➡️https://t.co/45jh7XSpz7 pic.twitter.com/SnQ8mSs4kO
— Aeronáutica Civil de Colombia (@AerocivilCol) January 12, 2023
According to Aeronáutica Civil, the pre-commencement phase and the modernisation works will be carried out over a period of two and a half years. On the other hand, the concession period would be eight and a half years.
The agency explained that this will be a «transitional work», as it also continues to advance in the review of the private project for the construction of a new airport in Bayunca, north of Cartagena de Indias.
«These works will ensure the continuity of air transport services in one of the most important tourist destinations in Colombia and Latin America», said Guillermo Francisco Reyes González, the South American country’s Minister of Transport. «The approval of this private initiative is the result of a deep institutional cooperation between the National Infrastructure Agency and Aeronáutica Civil, to provide Colombians with quality airports that guarantee national and international air connectivity», he added.
See also: Avianca inaugurates flights between Cartagena and Santiago de Chile
