Airports lead Peru's transportation infrastructure investments

Airport projects led Peru’s investments in transport infrastructure in the first five months of the year.

Of the works supervised by transportation regulator Ositran, airport projects involved investments of US$193mn in January to May, one of the highest figures in recent years and up from US$55mn in all 2023.

Line No. 2 of the Lima metro, a US$5.35bn project that usually leads investments in transport infrastructure, received US$109mn in the same period.

Overall investments in transportation infrastructure – including ports, roads, railways and airports – amounted to US$425mn between January and May, according to Ositran, up from US$268mn in the same period last year. For May, the figure was US$136mn compared to US$20mn in May 2023.

Although airports saw the most investments in the five months, the June figures are expected to include an update on the progress of line 2 as the figures are usually presented at the end of each quarter. As a result, rail projects will probably lead investments in H1.

The total invested in transport infrastructure is expected to be close to US$600mn in the first half, compared with the initial projection of around US$800mn for all 2024 and US$723mn in 2023.

PROJECTS

There are three airport projects that Ositran currently oversees.

Work on the new Jorge Chávez international airport (AIJC) in Lima required US$65mn in May and US$145mn in the first five months. According to concessionaire Lima Airport Partners (LAP), the US$2bn project is more than 85% complete and will be delivered on December 18 of this year.

The group is currently carrying out operational tests – baggage handling, jet bridges, elevators, escalators, ramps and mechanical walkways – and for 2025 the expectation is to increase capacity from 30mn passengers annually to 40mn, according to LAP.

The other airport project is the first group of 12 regional terminals under the charge of concessionaire Aeropuertos del Perú (AdP). In the first five months of the year, US$47.2mn were invested in the works, up from US$23.7mn in all 2023. According to AdP, the goal for 2024 is to invest US$108mn, including US$45.3mn in preventive maintenance.

The second group of regional airports did not register any progress in May and saw investment of US$1.1mn in the first five months, according to the Ositrán report. Aeropuertos Andinos del Perú (AAP), which is in charge of maintenance and civil works, indicated that this year it will inject US$7.94mn into the terminals.

PORTS

Regarding ports, of the projects supervised, work on the expansion of the South Pier at Callao (Muelle Bicentenario) led investments with US$64.6mn in May and US$66.2mn in the first five months.

The pier is a nearly US$400mn project built by DP World. The works officially ended this month. Marco Hernández, general manager of DP World Callao, told local media that the project will be inaugurated on Thursday, expanding the capacity of the terminal at Peru’s busiest port by 80% and able to receive up to 2.7mn containers a year.