El Dorado, the airport of Colombia’s capital city Bogota, was ranked in the top six airports in the world in a list compiled by the founder of travel guide Lonely Planet, just as renovations are in sight.
Due in great part to El Dorado’s new innovative fast-baggage system, which processes between 2000 and 7200 bags each hour, Tony Wheeler, who founded Lonely Planet, named it as one of the top airports he’s ever traveled through. Wheeler claims that most airports in Colombia have rapid bag delivery systems.
El Dorado’s baggage terminal cost approximately $55 million and has five security filtering stations.
This news comes at a time when the airport is undergoing major renovations. The first step involves building a new domestic terminal that should be ready – 8 months ahead of schedule – this October. The new terminal will have 60 new check-in stations, six escalators, four moving walkways, ten elevators, seven baggage conveyor belts, nine boarding bridges, and 140,000 square feet of space for businesses and restaurants.
Newspaper El Tiempo estimates that the renovations to the airport will cost nearly $900 million.
Sources
- El Dorado, entre los seis mejores aeropuertos (Portafolio)
- Nuevo muelle nacional del aeropuerto El Dorado (El Tiempo)