President Boric leads the inauguration of the new building of the National Terminal T1-A of the Arturo Merino Benítez Airport

Press release from the Ministry of Public Works of Chile

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

The President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric Font, together with the Minister of Public Works , Jessica López; the Minister of National Defense , Maya Fernández; the Minister of Agriculture , Esteban Valenzuela; the Undersecretary of Tourism, Verónica Pardo; and the Mayor of Pudahuel, Ítalo Bravo, led the inauguration ceremony of the new western boarding building of the National Terminal T1-A of the Arturo Merino Benítez Airport.

"This is reactivation, it is dynamism for the economy, it is work, it is happiness for families who travel, it is good news for Chile," said the Head of State about the new building or jetty of the air terminal, which has a surface area of 17,334 m2, incorporating 8 new boarding gates to the National Terminal. With a design dedicated to the central coast of Chile, it also includes 4 commercial premises, 10 bathrooms, a children's play area, an elevator and escalators that connect with levels 2 and 3, and an information area.

In this regard, the President stressed that the airport "is the gateway to the country for many. Therefore, how it looks, that it has these bright windows, that it is a welcoming place (…) where there are artistic expressions of our country, that the food is Chilean in the restaurants, all these small details are the first thing that comes to mind when you arrive."

These works mark 70% progress in the remodelling of the National Terminal and 99.18% of the complete remodelling of the Arturo Merino Benítez Airport.

The Minister of Public Works, meanwhile, recalled that "we are in a project that began in 2016, and which involves a full investment of one billion dollars. This meant building a new International Terminal, and after that terminal, came everything that has meant the rehabilitation and expansion of the National Terminal. It is very important because it absorbs more than half of the passengers who use this airport, the airport of the regions, with flights to the regions with mostly work trips, but also many for tourism."

In 2023, AMB Airport registered a total of almost 23 million passengers, of which almost 58% were on domestic flights (57.92%, corresponding to 13,274,443 passengers). It is estimated that in 2024 the total number of passengers could reach more than 24.5 million passengers. With the completion of the airport remodelling works (international and domestic terminal), it will be able to serve 38 million passengers per year.