Peru’s Government is studying “all options" regarding the eventual construction of a second runway at Lima's international airport, as the concession holder continues to press for the investment to be triggered by demand rather than the current fixed date..
Lima Airport Partners (LAP) has repeatedly sought clarification of the concession conditions, favouring a traffic volume trigger to construct the runway, rather than flat deadline of putting it in service in 2014.
President of Peru's airport regulator OSITRAN, Juan Carlos Zevallos, says the Government is open to different options.
"LAP has asked the Ministry of Transport and Communications not to be forced to build the runway until the traffic really requires it. We are considering all options, but we believe that operational reliability and safety concerns should also be taken into account [even if the single runway can still handle the traffic volume],” he says.
A LAP source says that it would make better sense to build the runway "once there is traffic to pay for it", adding that "schedules are tight for any scenario, as the state owned terrains reserved for the runway still have not been transferred to the airport".
Peru also plans to go ahead later this year with its second regional airport privatisation package.
Zevallos says Arequipa, Tacna, Juliaca, Puerto Maldonado, Ayacucho, Nazca and Apurimac will finally be tendered in the second quarter of this year, requiring a minimum investment of $182 million.
Peru had announced last year the separation of the southern region's busiest airport in Cusco from the package, as it requires a complete reconstruction which will be dealt with separately.
Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: FlightGlobal.com