Icafal Inversiones S.A has started to operate the terminal concession at Carriel Sur International Airport in Concepción, Chile.

The company will be in charge of operating and maintaining the airport for a 15-year period, assuming the role of Aerosur, the previous owner of the project since 2000.

As we reported, Icafal Inversiones S.A submitted the best bid for the Carriel Sur airport terminal. The offer included an 18.02% of the total income to be shared with Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil, the airport authority of Chile. The team beat out competition from Consorcio Aeropuertos Asociados, a team formed by A Port Chile and Flughafen Zurich AG, which submitted a bid to share a 16.47% of the total income with the airport authority.

The new concession includes, among others, the extension of the passenger terminal building to double its capacity from 1 million passenger to 2 million passenger per year, a new car park, new infrastructure for management and services and a new control tower. The total project investment is estimated at US$42 million and the completion is expected by 2019.

The airport is located 5 km northwest of the city of Concepcion. It has a strategic location within the national network of airports, due to the associated high demand, which relates mainly to industrial, forestry, fisheries, manufacturing, tourism and services present activities in the area.