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The new consortium plans to increase commercial space to around 25,000sq m |
CHILE. The Grupo Nuevo Pudahuel consortium has won the right to manage Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport for 20 years from October 2015. Crucially, the consortium plans to almost treble commercial space with construction of a new terminal (see below).
Chile’s Ministry of Public Works (MOP) announced the award on Wednesday to the consortium comprising France’s Aéroports de Paris and Vinci Airports, and Italy’s Astaldi.
Nuevo Pudahuel guaranteed a 77.56% share of total income, significantly more than the offers presented by the three other groups that reached the final round of the bid.
Consorcio AMB (OHL, Odinsa and Flughafen Zürich) offered a 67.91% share, Grupo Aeropuerto de Santiago (Grupo Costanera and Atlantia) 67.53%, and Grupo Pudahuel (made up of Ferrovial, Echeverría Izquerido and Icafal) 65.02%.
The fifth short-listed bidder, the AMB consortium made up of Agunsa and ACS, did not meet the technical requirements to enter final consideration.
Agunsa is the majority shareholder in the incumbent airport manager, SCL Terminal Aéreo Santiago.
The Nuevo Pudahuel consortium is already established in Chile, where it manages roading and private prison projects.
“This is great news for the country, for the economy, for air passengers and for the concession system, after receiving very good offers to expand our main airport,” Minister of Public Works Alberto Undurraga told media.
Nuevo Pudahuel has committed to an investment of US$700 million over the contract’s duration, principally in construction of a new, 175,000sq m terminal dedicated to international flights.
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In for an overhaul: the current mixed-used terminal at Santiago Airport will be redeveloped and extended for domestic use only |
The existing 110,000sq m terminal area is also to be fully redeveloped for domestic traffic only, and will gain an extension of some 9,000sq m.
Construction on the terminals should be completed in 2019, with works undertaken in a 50/50 partnership by Vinci Construction Grands Projets (part of Conception-Construction) and Astaldi.
Importantly, the consortium has emphasised the role of commercial in its plans. The terminal houses around 9,000sq m of commercial space today; this will rise to around 25,000sq m by 2020, including additional space for Arrivals and Departures duty free shops, the consortium said in a presentation about the deal.
As reported, in April 2014 World Duty Free Group extended its retail concession at Santiago de Chile Airport until 2022.
The MOP is mandating the investment to create capacity at the airport for 30 million passengers a year by 2030, with further expansion possible in order to extend that capacity to 45 million passengers.
The airport recorded 16.1 million passenger movements in 2014, almost half of them on international flights. Santiago is the sixth busiest airport in South America, behind the major Brazilian airports and Bogota in Colombia.
The partners highlighted the strength of LAN Chile as the core airline customer: it handles 72% of traffic. They also noted the potential for growth in the local economy: Chilean GDP is expected to grow at around +4% on average per year between 2013 and 2030.
Following a transition period, Nuevo Pudahuel will take over administration of the current terminal on 1 October 2015.
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Comment from Grupo Nuevo Pudahuel
The partners in the successful bid for this key Latin American terminal today welcomed the outcome of the retendering process.
“The acquisition of this concession rewards the close collaboration between the teams from Aéroports de Paris, particularly our Aéroports de Paris Management and ADP Ingénierie subsidiaries, and our partners Vinci Airports and Astaldi,” said Augustin de Romanet, Chairman and CEO of Aéroports de Paris.
“Santiago de Chile ranks among Latin America’s most dynamic regional hubs, with average annual growth in passenger traffic of +10% over the past 20 years.
Xavier Huillard, Chairman and CEO of Vinci Airports, commented: ““Together with Aéroports de Paris and Astaldi, we had worked long and hard over a period of several months to put together the best possible proposition for the new concession, as much from the passenger’s point of view as that of the authorities.
“We have very high ambitions for Arturo Merino Benitez Airport, and this project will now spearhead our airport strategy on the South American continent.”
Added Stefano Cerri, CEO of Astaldi: “Winning this project is the result of the successful cooperation among Astaldi, ADP, and Vinci. It also represents a further important step towards the consolidation of our group activities in the Chilean market and a statement of our commitment to the country.”
About Grupo Nuevo Pudahuel
Aéroports de Paris has a 45% share of the winning Nuevo Pudahuel consortium, alongside Vinci Airports with 40% and Astaldi with 15%. The three partners represent significant interests and experience in European airport management.
Aéroports de Paris manages the airports in the Paris metropolitan area, including Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourguet. Vinci Airports administers 23 airports – ten in France, ten in Portugal and three in Cambodia. Rome-based Astaldi is an international construction group that numbers among its aviation interests Romania’s Bucharest Airport.
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