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The Nuevo Pudahuel company, controlled by French investors and which operates and carries out the expansion of the Santiago airport – the largest air terminal in Chile. He asked the Government to extend the concession contract due to the lack of liquidity it faces due to the coronavirus.
The Nuevo Pudahuel Group, controlled 85% by the French companies Groupe ADP and Vinci Aeroports and the remaining 15% by the Italian Astaldi Concessioni, took over the Santiago airport in 2015 for its expansion and operation for 20 years, but the The impact of the fall in passenger flow between March and September 2020 due to the covid-19 reduced its income by 90%.
“The risk is so important that due to the lack of liquidity of the concessionaire and the airport, there is a serious problem”Branko Karlezi, communications deputy manager of the Nuevo Pudahuel Airport, told the 24-hour news channel on Tuesday.
The company has invested more than US $ 1 billion in improving the airport’s operations and in expansion works, which include a new international terminal and enlarge the national one, to receive 30 million passengers annually.
The concessionaire had to increase its costs by a million dollars a month to avoid stopping the construction in a pandemic and delivering it in 2021Therefore, he proposed to extend the concession to recover the investment, but the Government ruled out this possibility.
“We are asking the Chilean government to be able to imitate what has been done in all other countries around the globe to fix and keep the airport working. Without the concessionaire that contributes the investment and attracts the airlines, Chile loses connectivity ”, he stated.
The pandemic will cause the flow of passengers to fall to 8 million in 2020 compared to the 25 million registered last year. By 2025, the Santiago airport would suffer a loss in the order of 150 million travelers, according to the concessionaire.
After seven months with the borders closed, Chile announced in November the reopening of the Santiago airport for foreign passengers with health requirements such as a PCR (swabbing) up to 72 hours before the trip.
The land and sea borders are kept closed. Domestic travel during the pandemic was maintained but also with restrictions.
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