12 potential interested parties in San Andrés airport modernization

ANI press release

This is a machine translation of the original release, issued in Spanish

April 18, 2024

The National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) held this Thursday the first hearing to present the Public-Private Partnership project of the Gustavo Rojas Pinilla airport in San Andrés and a technical visit to the facilities, in which 12 potential investors participated (9 companies, 3 natural people).

The meeting allowed potential interested parties to obtain all the information about the project so that, until July 12, they can present their expression of interest and prepare their eventual offer.

The 'Government of Change' successfully advances in the selection process for the award of the concession of the new Gustavo Rojas Pinilla airport in San Andrés, which contemplates the modernization and expansion to 13,500 m2 of the existing terminal, the construction of 3,516 m2 in commercial areas, the reconstruction of buildings for airport medical and fire services, and the development of urban planning focused on highlighting Raizal customs and culture.

This private initiative will be concessioned for 30 years, will generate around 8,719 direct and indirect jobs and will have an investment that exceeds $1.01 billion, which will expand the service capacity of the air terminal to 2.8 million passengers annually.

The president of the ANI, Francisco Ospina Ramírez, chaired the meeting with the possible interested third parties and was emphatic in pointing out that thanks to the management of this Government, after 9 years of presentation by the originator, the project was managed to unravel in order to seek to award it before the end of 2024.

“This private initiative (IP) already has all the approvals of the National Government entities, as well as the Originator's acceptance of the conditions to proceed with its publication.

If a third interested party does not present itself, it will be awarded in July, if other interested parties present themselves, it would be awarded at the end of 2024 through a selection process,” Ospina explained to the investors.

With the planned expansions and the improvement of the counters, security filters and boarding rooms, among others, it is expected that the airlines that currently provide their services at the airport will increase their frequencies or new operators will join, which means an increase in air connectivity and therefore a growth in tourist activity, local commerce and in the foreign currency that enters the island of San Andrés.

The ANI gives some peace of mind to the island community and the airport users, reiterating that the operation of the air terminal will not stop while the planned interventions are carried out, which will improve operational safety, strengthen the island's competitiveness and will bring well-being and progress to communities.

Data of interest

More than $12 billion will be invested for the modernization, expansion and improvement of 5 airports.

With the improvement and expansion of airport infrastructure, more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs will be generated, and Colombia would have the capacity to serve 90 million passengers per year.

During the Government of Change, the Rafael Núñez International Airport in Cartagena was already awarded for $920,000 million over an 8.5-year concession.

Currently, 16 airport terminals are in charge of the ANI with maintenance and operation activities, which have made it possible to mobilize nearly 80 million users per year.