Chile aviation: Santiago airport’s capacity to be tripled by 2050 with USD4 billion commitment

Chile's capital, Santiago, is stuck out on the edge of the globe - like New Zealand, and Norway's Svalbard archipelago.

But its airport punches well above its weight, handling almost 26 million passengers in 2024, which was the fifth highest total in Latin America.

A lot of that is down to Chile's almost unique position as a source of rare earth minerals, and its accomplished book-keeping, which marks it as a leading economy in the region.

The airport is government-owned but private sector-managed, and the government has decreed a huge expansion there, which would triple capacity by 2050.

That puts a burden on the concessionaire, but so far that consortium has delivered the goods, and it's 'reward' might well come in the form of a concession extension.

The airport does need new infrastructure for sure: capacity is evident 24/7.

The question is: where will the extra business come from, with LCC capacity below the regional average and the lack of a substantive airline alliance network?