Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport Pudahuel Airport Santiago International Airport
IATA: SCL – ICAO: SCEL SCL Location of airport in Chile
Summary
Airport type		Public and Military
Operator		SCL Aeropuerto de Santiago
Location		Pudahuel, Santiago Metropolitan Region - Chile
Hub for		LAN Airlines Sky Airline PAL Airlines
Elevation AMSL		1,555 ft / 474 m
Coordinates		33°23′34″S 70°47′08″W
Website		http://www.aeropuertosantiago.cl/
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
17R/35L	12,467	3,800	Asphalt
17L/35R	12,298	3,748	Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Passenger Numbers			12,989,318
Passenger Statistics from Aeropuerto de Santiago

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (IATA: SCL, ICAO: SCEL), also known as Pudahuel Airport and Santiago International Airport, located in Pudahuel, 15 km (9.3 mi) north-west of downtown Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility and the busiest international air passenger gateway to the country. Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport has non-stop, international service to Europe, Oceania and the Americas. It served 12,989,318 passengers in 2011, being the 9th busiest airport in Latin America and the 6th busiest in South America by passenger traffic. It is the 7th busiest airport in Latin America by aircraft movements, serving 104,000 operations. It is also a major connecting point for air traffic between Oceania and Latin America.

The Airport is owned by the Chilean State and operated since July 1998 by SCL Terminal Aéreo Santiago S.A. Sociedad Concesionaria, a consortium of companies formed by Agunsa (Chile), Grupo ACS (Spain) and Vancouver Airport Services (Canada). The Air traffic control is handled by the DGAC (Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil - Chile). Its ICAO category is 4E. In addition, it is the main hub and maintenance center for LAN Airlines, Sky Airline and PAL Airlines. The airport functions as a joint civil-military facility. It is the headquarters of the Chilean Air Force 2nd Air Brigade and where its 10th Aviation Group is based.

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 inter-continental flights operated mainly with Boeing 707's, Boeing 727's, McDonnell Douglas DC-10's and later Boeing 747's 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.

Sky Airline has its main hub at SCL

Construction of the original terminal building, the first 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, Air Commodore Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in honour of the founder of the Chilean Air Force and Chilean carrier LAN Airlines.

Current passenger terminal

The facility was expanded in 1994 with a new international terminal that covers 90,000 square meters, inspired by the architecture of Marseille Provence Airport, 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 the following years, minor expansions have taken place, such as the inclusion of additional jetways.

The terminal building has four levels. The airport services are distributed in the following way:

• Ground floor: arrivals, Duty Free Shop, baggage claim, Customs and Border Control, Transport Services, parking areas, Holiday Inn Hotel access.

• First floor: Administrative offices, VIP lounges (Access through the second floor).
• Second Floor: Departures, Check-in areas, Border Control Police, Duty Free Shops, Restaurants, boarding halls and gates.
• Third Floor: Restaurants.

The terminal building hosts the following services: Bank office (a branch of Banco Santander), Chilean Automobile Club, Telecommunication Companies (Claro, Movistar and Entel PCS), Pharmacy, Travel Agencies, Insurance (Mapfre, AIG-Interamericana), Police Station (Carabineros de Chile).

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).

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

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

Santiago International Airport is the longest non-stop destination for Iberia and Air France for flights departing from their respective hubs in Madrid-Barajas Airport and Paris-Charles De Gaulle.

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

Future expansion

In 2008, the airport terminal reached its maximum design capacity of 9.5 million annual passengers, 2 years in advance to forecast. This tight scenario is already showing a downgrade in the overall airport services, especially in the border control, check-in and baggage claim areas where queues are frequent in some early and late hours of the day.

For this reason, and with the repairs needed after the 2010 Chile Earthquake, the Ministry of Public Works informed that it will call for a tender in 2012 for the expansion and administration of the airport, 2 years prior to the end of the contract with the current operator.

The ministry decided to raise a whole 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 will cost 4,560 Million Chilean Pesos (USD 9.4 Million) considered in the 2011 Fiscal Budget. For this new master plan, the Government has hired the consultancy services of Aéroports de Paris Ingeniérie (ADP-I), the architecture, engineering and technical branch of the French airport corporation.

The expansion will take into account a capacity growth to 14 million annual passengers by 2014, 34 Million by year 2034 and 50 Million passengers by 2045. This plan will consider 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.

Amenities

Hotels

• Holiday Inn Hotels finished in July 2007 the construction of a 5-floor building, internally connected to both terminals (International and domestic), with private parking slots and special services for passengers and guests. The hotel has 112 rooms, restaurants, bars, room-service, a conference hall for 170 people, gym, covered swimming pool, spa and wi-fi internet access.

• Hotel Diego de Almagro is located 2 km outside the airport area.

• The brand new Hilton Garden Inn Santiago Airport Hotel is located only 2.8 km from the Santiago international airport within the ENEA, one of the largest business complex in Santiago de Chile which hosts offices, big companies and entertainment. Complimentary shuttle service from the Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez International airport (in and out) is provided by Trans VIP. The hotel has 144 rooms, a fitness center, indoor swimming pool, sauna, 7 meeting spaces including a ballroom with capacity for up to 230 people, 24-hour business center and wireless room internet access. The hotel is close to a golf course and the Arauco Maipu Mall.

Shopping

The Santiago International Airport has four tax-free shops that offer a wide range of products to supply any need customers may have. They are handled by the Spanish Duty-free operator Aldeasa. One of them is located just after the police border control at departures, while another one is located before the baggage claim area.

Souvenirs, jewelry, Chilean handcrafts and Wine Shops, music and accessories among others, are available in more than 70 stores from well-known international and national brands.

Restaurants

Santiago Airport has 21 well-known restaurants, coffee shops, and bars, located in the public area and in the national and international departing lounges. International franchises include Starbucks Coffee (both terminals), Ruby Tuesday (International terminal), Boost & Juice, Caffriccio and Dunkin' Donuts.

VIP lounges

In the International terminal, the operators are: LAN Airlines with the Neruda Lounge and the Mistral Lounge, American Airlines (Admirals Club), and the SkyTeam alliance (Delta Air Lines Sky Club); in addition to the unaffiliated lounges, such as Pacific Club.

Terminals, airlines and destinations

View of the Domestic Terminal

SCL's Domestic Terminal

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Buenos Aires-Aeroparque, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Mendoza	I
Aeroméxico	Mexico City	I
Air Canada	Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Toronto-Pearson	I
Air France	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	I
American Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami	I
Avianca	Bogotá	I
Copa Airlines	Panama City	I
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta	I
Gol Transportes Aéreos	Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos	I
Iberia	Madrid	I
LAN Airlines	Antofagasta, Auckland, Balmaceda, Bogotá, Buenos Aires-Aeroparque, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Calama, Cancún, Caracas, Córdoba, Frankfurt, Guayaquil, Hanga Roa/Easter Island, Iquique, La Paz, Lima, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mendoza, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, Mount Pleasant, New York-JFK, Papeete, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Punta Cana, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Sydney	D, I
LAN Argentina	Buenos Aires-Aeroparque	I
LAN Ecuador	Guayaquil	I
LAN Express	Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Calama, Concepción, Copiapó, Iquique, La Serena, Osorno, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Temuco, Valdivia	D, I
LAN Perú	Lima	I
PAL Airlines	Antofagasta, Arica, Calama, Copiapó, Iquique	D
PLUNA	Concepción [begins 29 February], Montevideo	I
Qantas	Sydney [begins March 26, 2012]	I
Sky Airline	Antofagasta, Arequipa, Arica, Balmaceda, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Calama, Concepción, Copiapó, El Salvador, Iquique, La Paz, La Serena, Lima, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Temuco	D, I
TACA Airlines operated by Lacsa	Lima, San José (CR)	I
TACA Perú	Lima	I
TAM Airlines	São Paulo-Guarulhos	I
TAM Airlines Paraguay	Asunción	I

Top destinations

Busiest International Routes to and from SCL [2011]

Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers
1	Buenos Aires, Argentina (Ezeiza and Aeroparque Airports)	1,142,986	Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Canada, GOL Airlines, LAN Argentina, LAN Airlines, LAN Ecuador, Sky Airline.
2	São Paulo-Guarulhos, Brazil	666,511	GOL Airlines, LAN Airlines, TAM Airlines.
3	Lima, Peru	626,86	Lacsa, LAN Airlines, LAN Perú, Sky Airline, TACA Perú.
4	Madrid, Spain	338,859	Iberia, LAN Airlines
5	Miami, FL, USA	309,351	American Airlines, LAN Airlines.
6	Montevideo, Uruguay	283,884	Pluna, LAN Airlines
7	Mendoza, Argentina	270,370	Aerolínes Argentinas, LAN Airlines.
8	Panama City, Panama	237,484	COPA Airlines.
9	Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France	180,300	Air France.
10	Bogotá, Colombia	175,320	Avianca, LAN Airlines.
11	Mexico City, Mexico	168,510	AeroMéxico, LAN Airlines
12	Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Brazil	168,471	GOL Airlines, LAN Airlines, TAM.
13	Córdoba, Argentina	137,452	LAN Airlines
14	Template:Country data Usa New York-JFK, NY, USA	120,726	LAN Airlines
15	Atlanta, GA, USA	112,903	Delta Air Lines
16	Dallas, TX, USA	107,314	American Airlines.
17	Guayaquil, Ecuador	79,292	LAN Airines.
18	Toronto-Pearson, Canada	77,134	Air Canada.
19	Auckland, New Zealand	73,533	LAN Airlines.
20	Los Angeles, CA, USA	62,662	LAN Airlines.

Busiest Domestic Routes to and from SCL [2011]

Rank	City	Passengers
1	Antofagasta	1,034,177
2	Iquique	807,405
3	Concepción	724,546
4	Calama	696,328
5	Puerto Montt	575,587
6	Punta Arenas	410,589
7	La Serena	397,389
8	Copiapó	368,392
9	Araucanía, Chile Temuco	353,458
10	Arica	341,912
11	Balmaceda	161,312
12	Los Ríos, Chile Valdivia	121,097
13	Valparaíso, Chile Easter Island	118,781
14	Osorno	105,144

Cargo terminal

Cargolux Centurion Air Cargo

Cielos Airlines Florida West International Airways

LAN Cargo Martinair Cargo

MasAir Tampa Cargo

Ground transportation

Roads

Costanera Norte Expressway

Arturo Merino Benitez is about 17 kilometres (11 mi) by car from Santiago's city centre. The airport is well served by the 6-lane expressway Costanera Norte, which crosses through the city from West to East bordering the Mapocho river, while it is also well connected to the West, North and North-East of Santiago by the Vespucio Norte Express Ring motorway (Exit number 18).

Taxi

There are 2 official airport taxi services: Taxi Oficial and Taxi Vip, which can be contacted at their desks after the Baggage claim area.

Bus

Buses at the Departures Level

Centropuerto buses connect the Airport with Los Héroes Station of Santiago Metro. Their frequency is every 10 minutes during weekdays and 15 minutes during weekends.

Accidents and incidents

No airline disasters have occurred at the site. However 3 flights with final destination SCL crashed en route:

• On April 28, 1969 LAN Chile Flight 160, a Boeing 727 arriving from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ministro Pistarini International Airport, crashed short of runway, 24 km North of Colina, Chile (50 km. North of Arturo Merino Benítez Airport). None of the 60 passengers and crew were injured in the accident, but the aircraft was written off.

• On October 13, 1972 a Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 chartered by a Uruguayan rugby team crashed into the Chilean Andes while en route to SCL. Of the 40 passengers and 5 crew members, 16 were found alive 72 days after the accident.

• On October 2, 1996, flight 603, an AeroPerú Boeing 757 flying the Miami-Lima-Santiago route crashed into the Pacific Ocean some minutes after its take off from Lima, Perú's Jorge Chávez International Airport, killing all on board.

In addition, during the late 1960s and 1970s, Latin America's political turmoil affected safety in air transportation:

• On July 4, 1973, an Aerolíneas Argentinas Boeing 737-200 registration LV-JTO, with 77 passengers on board, departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was hijacked soon after its take off by a member of the ERP (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo - In English: People's Revolutionary Army). The aircraft was forced to land at Mendoza's El Plumerillo International Airport, flying subsequently to Santiago, where 49 passegeners were freed. The flight continued to Lima, Perú, where other 6 hostages were released. The aircraft finally landed in Havana, Cuba, where the hijacker asked for political asylum.

External links

• Official web site (English)
• Airport information for SCEL at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.