Chinese company eyes Chinchero airport project

China State Construction Engineering Corporation is willing to invest US$370mn to build the Chinchero international airport that would serve Peru's Cuzco city, newspaper El Comercio reported. The announcement followed the visit of company officials led by general director Zhang Ming to the capital of Cuzco department, where local authorities presented the project. "It is necessary to make the airport, which has been postponed for more than two decades, a reality," the paper quoted regional department VP Alejandro Uscamayta as saying. The state company could also help in efforts to sign a technical and financial cooperation agreement between the two governments, as well as bring other Chinese firms in to run the airport, said the report. Chinchero proponents say Cuzco's existing Velasco Astete airport cannot meet the region's growing tourism industry needs, while detractors argue a much smaller investment would render Velasco Astete fit to meet city needs.