Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport is to spend a reported $88 million over the next three fiscal years.
The money, which will be spent on a new air traffic control tower and new technology to improve efficiency, is part of a plan to improve the day-to-day running of the airport, economic newspaper La Republica reported Wednesday.
New plans call for 2,952 feet expansion of the northern runway and a new terminal building once the airport reaches an annual traffic of 30 million passengers a year, said the newspaper.
Plans suggested by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos include building two new terminals with runways at the site of the Catam Military Air Base, once military equipment and personnel have been relocated to the nearby town of Madrid in 2018.
The current construction of the new air traffic control tower is due to be completed in 2014.
El Dorado is not only Colombia’s largest airport, it is also Latin America’s biggest in terms of cargo transfer and the fifth biggest airport for passengers. La Republica reported that in 2012 El Dorado saw 22.5 million passengers pass through – thats 47.6% of the domestic total.
So far this year, it has flown 637.1 tons of cargo, 69.7% of all cargo that has been shipped from Colombian airports in 2013, said the economic newspaper.
Sources
- Bogota Airport (bogota-airport.com)
- AEROCIVIL CONTRATÓ EQUIPAMIENTO PARA EL CENTRO DE GESTIÓN AERONÁUTICA Y LA NUEVA TORRE DE CONTROL DEL AEROPUERTO EL DORADO (Aerocivil)
- Bogota El Dorado International Airport (Center for Aviation)
- Eldorado tendrá $167.000 millones para sus pistas (La Republica)