Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (IATA: SCL, ICAO: SCEL), also known as Pudahuel Airport or Santiago International Airport, located in Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility, with more than 6.5 million passengers traveling each year through it.

History

The construction of the airport began in 1961, replacing the "Los Cerrillos Airport". It opened in 1967 with the name "Pudahuel Intl.". In 1994 a new international terminal was built, adding, for the first time, jetways (20), a new duty-free store, a hotel (1 km from the Terminal) and more parking lots. During the 1970s, the airport's name was changed to honor Arturo Merino Benítez, who created the Chilean Air Force. In 2002 the new terminal opened. In 2004 the construction of the new Runway 17R/35L began, and was opened to traffic in September 2005. Months later technical problems were discovered in the new runway, which were promptly fixed by January 2006. Unfortunately, these fixes were not sufficient. A study concluded that the runway had a bad surface and a bad resistance. Compared with runway 17L/35R which was built in 1967 and was repaired in 2005 (for the first time in 28 years) the new runway was useless. Also the new runway does not have an ILS Category III approach for low visibility (17L/35R has one) and the Approach Lights System were not sufficient. Also, the new runway does not have any Touchdown Zone Lights, which Rw17L/35R has. On February 2007, Rw17R/35L will be renewed and reconstructed. Remaining only The Rw17L/35R for operations.

No major airline accidents have happened at the site, but this has not stopped tragedy from knocking at the doors of the airport. In 1972, a propeller-plane chartered by an Uruguayan rugby team, from the country's air force, crash-landed on the Chilean side of the Andes while en route to the airport, leaving many people dead and others to die days later. The survivors of the accident (who were traveling to Santiago to play a rugby match) and the stories they experienced during the months stranded in the high-Andes, became the subject of a 1993 Hollywood movie Alive: The Miracle of the Andes. (See Andes flight disaster.) On October 2, 1996, AeroPeru Flight 603, a Boeing 757 that was en route from Lima's Jorge Chávez International Airport to Santiago, Chile crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Everyone on board died.

Airlines

The airport is the hub for several Chilean and international airlines including Chile's largest international and domestic airline, LAN Airlines. The airport used to be the main hub for Ladeco, another major Chilean international airline, until LAN Airlines bought Ladeco in the mid 1990s.

International Terminal

• Aerolíneas Argentinas (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza)
• Aeroméxico (Mexico City)
• Air Canada (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Toronto-Pearson)
• Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
• American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami)
• Avianca (Bogotá)
• Copa Airlines (Panama City)
• Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
• Gol Transportes Aéreos (Brasília, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Lima, Macéio, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio do Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo-Guarulhos)
• Iberia (Madrid)
• LAN Airlines (Auckland, Bogotá, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cancún, Caracas, Córdoba, Frankfurt, Guayaquil, Havana, La Paz, Lima, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mendoza, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, Mount Pleasant, New York-JFK, Papeete, Punta Cana, Quito, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rosario, Salvador, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Sydney)
  • LANExpress (Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos, San Carlos de Bariloche)
  • LAN Peru (Lima)
• Pluna (Montevideo)
• Sky Airline (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Montevideo)
• Swiss International Air Lines (São Paulo-Guarulhos, Zürich)
• TACA
  • Lacsa (Lima, San José (CR))
• TAM (Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Guarulhos)
  • TAM Mercosur (Asunción)

Domestic Terminal

• Aerolíneas del Sur (Iquique, Antofagasta, Calama, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas)
• LAN Airlines (Antofagasta, Balmaceda, El Salvador (Chile), Hanga Roa, Iquique, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Temuco)
  • LANExpress (Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Calama, Concepción, Copiapo, El Salvador (Chile), Iquique, La Serena, Osorno, Pucón, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Valdivia)
• Sky Airline (Antofagasta, Arica, Balmaceda, Calama, Concepción, Iquique, Pucon, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Temuco)

Former Carriers

• Aero Continente (Lima)
• Aeroflot (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
• Aeroperu (Lima)
• Air Madrid (Madrid, Barcelona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife)
• Alitalia (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Milan-Malpensa)
• Avant (Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta, Calama, Copiapó, La Serena, Concepción, Temuco, Puerto Montt, Balmaceda, Punta Arenas)
• British Airways (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, London-Heathrow)
• Continental Airlines (Newark)
• Cubana de Aviacion (Havana)
• Eastern Airlines (Miami)
• Ecuatoriana (Guayaquil, Quito)
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Amsterdam)
• Ladeco (Same domestic routes as Lan Express)
• Lineas Aereas Paraguayas (Asunción)
• Lufthansa (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Sao Paulo-Guarulhos, Frankfurt)
• Mexicana (Mexico City)
• Pan Am (Miami)
• Swissair (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Zurich)
• United Airlines (Miami)
• Varig (Rio de Janeiro-Galeao, Sap Paulo-Guarulhos)

Terminals, VIP Lounges, airport services and future projects

Santiago's International Airport has two terminals, one for International flights and another one for Domestic flights. The international part of the airport has at least 20-25 gates. LAN Airlines has two VIP Lounges: a Neruda lounge for first/business class passengers and a Mistral lounge for frequent flyers. Admirals Club of American Airlines and SkyTeam alliance also offer VIP services in their lounges. The independent Salones VIP Pacific Club lounge operates at both the international and domestic terminals. The Domestic terminal has 10-15 gates

Food courts, ATMs, shops, call centers, duty free and coffee shops as well as bars and magazines shops are available in the airport.

Ongoing projects include the construction of more gates in both terminals (increasing the airport's passenger capacity), a hotel with direct connections to international and national terminals, a recreational park and an enlargement of the baggage claim zone are planned to be fully operative by Chile's Bicentennial, in 2010.

External links

• Official web site (English)
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