Colombia opens new improvements at El Dorado airport

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos has inaugurated newly completed improvements at El Dorado international airport in Bogotá, bringing overall progress on the airport upgrade project to 82%, infrastructure agency ANI reported.

The improvements opened include a bigger airport apron, which now covers 25,000m2, and the addition of six new boarding bridges.

These works will allow plane congestion at the terminal to be reduced by providing giving additional parking space, while the new boarding bridges will bring the airport's total to 33, easing passenger traffic inside the building.

According to ANI president Luis Andrade, the investment required for this phase of the expansion, which also included the demolition of the old control tower, was 36.1bn pesos (US$12.1mn).

Meanwhile, Santos said that he hopes to inaugurate the whole modernized airport within a few months. "What is happening at Colombia in terms of infrastructure hasn't been seen in any other place in the world," he said.

The overall upgrade of the airport is being carried out by concessionaire OPAIN.