Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

thumb|View of the tarmac

Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport , also known as Santiago International Airport and Nuevo Pudahuel Airport, located in Pudahuel, north-west of central Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility and busiest international airport.

The airport has domestic and international services to destinations in Europe, Oceania, Africa (cargo only), Asia and the Americas. In 2011, it was the ninth busiest airport in Latin America and the sixth busiest in South America by passenger traffic. It was the seventh busiest airport in Latin America by aircraft movements, serving 124,799 operations. Its location in Chile's most populated area, as well as in the central part of the country, makes it an ideal main hub and maintenance center for most local airlines such as LATAM and Sky Airline. LATAM Airlines accounts for approximately 82% of the airport's total commercial operations.

The airport is owned by the Chilean government and has been operated since October 2015 by Nuevo Pudahuel, a consortium of companies formed by Aéroports de Paris (France), Vinci Airports (France) and Astaldi (Italy). Air traffic control is handled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Its ICAO category is 4F. The airport functions as a joint civil-military facility. It is the headquarters of the Chilean Air Force 2nd Air Brigade, and is where its 10th Aviation Group is based.

Santiago International is the longest non-stop destination for most European carriers including Iberia, Air France, and British Airways from their respective hubs in Madrid–Barajas Airport, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, and London–Heathrow Airport. The airport is also Latin America's main gateway to Oceania, with scheduled flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, and Easter Island.

History

Early years

The demands of the growing metropolitan area of Santiago and the need for modern, jet-era airport facilities, which could safely accommodate both domestic and intercontinental flights, drove the need to relocate the Chilean capital's principal airport from Los Cerrillos Airport (ICAO: SCTI; IATA: ULC) in the denser southwest metropolitan region of Santiago to the more rural northwest metropolitan area.

Construction of the original terminal building, the eastern runway (17L/35R), control tower, east apron and cargo facilities commenced in 1961. On February 2, 1967, the airport was commissioned Aeropuerto Internacional de Pudahuel, due to its location in the municipality of Pudahuel. On March 19, 1980, the airport was rechristened Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in honour of the founder of the Chilean Air Force and Chilean carrier LATAM Chile (Formerly Linea Aerea Nacional, LAN Chile).

1994 expansion

The facility was expanded in 1994 with a new international terminal that covered 90,000 square meters, inspired by the architecture of Marseille Provence Airport in France. The building is located between the two 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 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). As of April 2014, 71% of international and 75% of domestic passengers were carried by Oneworld member airlines.

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, allowing 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 3, 2010.

In 2011, IATA recognized the DGAC (Chile's provider of air navigation services) and SCL (Santiago Airport) with the Exceptional Recognition Award to the cooperative efforts of SCL and DGAC Chile that facilitated a quick recovery from the devastation that followed the Chilean earthquake on 27 February 2010. "Both airport and air navigation services were restored quickly with no impact on rates or charges for passengers or airlines. DGAC Chile and SCL are widely regarded as leaders in Latin America for efficiency, quality, and customer focus.

thumb|Departure gates

In June 2011, Santiago International Airport received the Air Cargo Excellence Award, as the best Latin American Cargo Airport.

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. Further study of the problem discovered that the initial repairs were insufficient, needing additional work. Finally, 17R/35L reopened for traffic in March 2007.

2020 master plan and expansion

In 2008, the airport terminal reached its maximum design capacity of 9.5 million annual passengers, two years earlier than forecast, and with the repairs needed after the 2010 Chile earthquake, the Ministry of Public Works announced in 2012 that it would call for proposals for the expansion and administration of the airport, two years prior to the end of the contract with the current operator.

The ministry decided to investigate a 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 cost 4,560 million Chilean pesos (US$9.4 million) considered in the 2011 fiscal budget.

For this new master plan, the government hired the consultancy services of Aéroports de Paris Ingeniérie (ADP-I), the architecture, engineering and technical branch of the French airport corporation.

The master plan took into account a capacity growth to 14 million annual passengers by 2014, thirty-four million by year 2034 and 50 million passengers by 2045. 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 were considered.

In June 2013, the Chilean Ministry of Public Works started Phase 1 of the airport expansion.

On February 4, 2015, the consortium "Nuevo Pudahuel", formed by French companies Aéroports de Paris (45%), Vinci Airports (40%) and Italian infrastructure company Astaldi (15%) won the bidding process to manage and develop the airport for 20 years since October 1, 2015. The main missions of the new administration will be "the renovation of existing installations with the redesign and extension of the current terminal (Terminal 1); the funding, design and construction of a new 175,000-square-meter terminal (Terminal 2) which will increase the airport's capacity to 30 million passengers, with potential for expansion beyond 45 million; the operation and commercial development for the duration of the concession (20 years) of the main infrastructures: existing terminal and new terminals, car parks and future property developments. Building works will be executed by Astaldi (50% of conception-construction pool) and Vinci Construction Grands Projets (50%)". The new Terminal 2 was opened in 2022.

Facilities

Terminal 1 – domestic flights

thumb|View of the domestic terminal

The terminal building, originally built for both domestic and international operations until 2021, has four levels:

Ground floor: Arrivals, duty-free shop, baggage claim, transport services, parking areas, hotel access
First floor: Administrative offices, VIP lounges (access through the second floor)
Second floor: Departures, check-in & baggage drop off hall, shops, restaurants, boarding gates
Third floor: Restaurants and VIP check-in areas (LATAM)

Terminal 1 hosts a bank office, Chilean Automobile Club, telecommunication companies (Claro, Movistar and Entel PCS), pharmacy, travel agencies, airlines offices, insurance offices and a police station (Carabineros de Chile).

Terminal 2 – international flights

thumb|Terminal 2

The new international terminal covers more than 200,000 square meters. It involved an investment of $900 million USD. Construction started in August 2016 and ended in March 2021, increasing the total airport capacity from 16 to 38 million passengers per year.

Maintenance facilities

American Airlines operates a widebody aircraft maintenance facility at the airport, opened in November 2018. The facility holds maintenance hangars, a classroom, offices, parts storage, and tarmac space for two Boeing 777s/787s.

Military functions

The airport is the headquarters of the Chilean Air Force II Air Brigade and hosts the 10th Aviation Group facilities. The 10th Aviation Group provides Strategic Air Transportation, air transportation of the President of Chile, emergency medical air transport, and supervises the Airborne Early Warning & Control Squadron. Some of its units are C-130 Hercules, Boeing 767-300, Boeing 737 Classic, Gulfstream IV, CASA C-212 Aviocar, F-16 Fighting Falcon, AEW&C Condor and Boeing E-3 Sentry.

The FIDAE (Feria Internacional del Aire y del Espacio), Latin America's most important air show, takes place in the 10th Aviation Group facilities.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

thumb|Baggage claim area at International Terminal

thumb|Departures area at International Terminal

thumb|Check-in counters at International Terminal

thumb|Main corridor at International Terminal

thumb|Last waiting gates at International Terminal

Cargo

Statistics

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%" width= align=

|+ Busiest international routes January–December (2023)

! Rank

! City

! Passengers

! % change

! Airlines

|- I

| 1

| Buenos Aires, Argentina (Ezeiza and Aeroparque)

| 1.517.686

| 54,8%

| Aerolíneas Argentinas, JetSmart Argentina, JetSmart Chile, KLM, LATAM Chile, Sky Airline

| 2

| Lima, Peru

| 1.408.452

| 31,7%

| JetSmart Chile, JetSmart Perú, LATAM Chile, LATAM Perú, Sky Airline

| 3

| São Paulo–Guarulhos, Brazil

| 1.107.154

| 84,4%

| JetSmart Chile, LATAM Brasil, LATAM Chile, Sky Airline

| 4

| Bogotá, Colombia

| 703.480

| 11,4%

| Avianca, JetSmart Chile, LATAM, Sky Airline

| 5

| Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, Brazil

| 559.820

| 108,5%

| JetSmart Chile, LATAM Chile, Sky Airline

| 6

| Panama City, Panama

| 547.738

| 5,3%

| Copa Airlines

| 7

| Madrid, Spain

| 471.950

| 16,5%

| Iberia, LATAM Chile

| 8

| Miami, FL, US

| 457.912

| 6,0%

| American Airlines, LATAM Chile

| 9

| Mendoza, Argentina

| 226.650

| 58,8%

| Aerolíneas Argentinas, LATAM Chile, Sky Airline

| 10

| Paris–Charles de Gaulle, France

| 222.509

| 40,9%

| Air France