Without ruling out the idea of building their own airport terminal, the airline will wait to see how the modernization works initiated by the Executive Port Commission (CEPA) evolve.
Fidel Chavez Mena, vice president and legal representative of TACA, said that after meetings with representatives from CEPA, they have agreed to wait and see how the financing of the works evolves.
Puerto de La Union and the Northern Highway: two major infrastructure projects in the same country which produce very different results depending on who's running them.
An editorial Laprensagrafica.com gives a very clear summary of the facts: the Northern Highway project, managed by Fomilenio with US-funds from the Millennium Challenge Account, who participates in the investment and its supervision.
The Salvadoran Legislative Assembly has authorized the securitization of up to 20% of flows in order to finance improvements on the airport in El Salvador.
"Parliamentarians voted for the project, prepared by the Finance Committee, arguing that it is necessary to install air conditioners, modernize other areas, including the restrooms, in order to improve the quality of service to users", noted an article in Laprensagrafica.com
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission of El Salvador put to tender the administration of the port of La Union in mid-2013.
An article in Laprensagrafica.com quotes the chairman of the Autonomous Executive Port Commission of El Salvador (CEPA), Alberto Arene, who says that "The goal of CEPA is to grant concession the port of La Union, within a year, that is to say, in September 2013 ".
The administrative entity from the International Airport of El Salvador is expecting a formal proposal from TACA airlines to build a new terminal.
The president of the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (Cepa), Alberto Arene, said that when they have received a formal proposal by the airline it will be studied and evaluated. A renovation plan for the terminal is currently being developed.
Spain's Royal Academy defines a "White Elephant" as something that is "expensive to maintain and has no useful purpose". Like the Port of La Union.
Without ever taking off to become the port that was promised, La Union can now add to its dismal history the increased cost of funding due to the differential between the dollar – the currency in which the meager income of the port is received - and the Japanese yen, the currency in which the loan was negotiated with the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to build it.
The government of El Salvador and AviancaTaca managers are working together to explore possibilities for the renewal and expansion of the International Airport of El Salvador.
Roberto Kriete, Chairman of the Board of AviancaTaca, said they are working together with representatives from the State and the Autonomous Executive Port Commission, to find a solution for the redevelopment of the airport terminal.
Roberto Kriete has announced that that the renovation of the El Salvador International Airport, one way or another, will be carried out within a maximum period of three years.
The chairman of the board of AviancaTaca told Laprensagrafica.com that Comalapa airport needs not only improvements, but a complete update according to a master plan designed by Aéroports de Paris.
In the absence of plans for the expansion of the El Salvador International Airport, the airline is hoping to settle in another of the region’s capitals.
Comalapa airport is home to AviancaTaca and its air hub in the region, but it is becoming stretched to capacity and inadequate for the airline’s expansion plans.
According to an article in Elsalvador.com, executive vice president of the airline AviancaTaca, Stuart Ortiz, "has not ruled out another country in Central America for establishing a regional hub, especially for travelers moving between the region and the U.S. ... if in the next five years the Government of El Salvador has not initiated a master plan to expand the airport in Comalapa’s capacity to attend to aircraft."
The Salvadoran Investment Corporation is looking to invest between $35 and $50 million in a dredge to serve on national and regional ports.
The Salvadoran Investment Corporation (CORSAIN) is studying the acquisition of a dredge to clear the access channel to the ports of CORSAIN and those in the Central American Union.
"It's a hefty investment, we are now undertaking studies to get us towards this", said Raul Reyes, general manager of the corporation, according to Laprensagrafica.com.
Ten international companies have shown interest in operating the Salvadoran port and investing $30 million in renovating its infrastructure.
More than 10 international companies from Europe, Asia, America and Latin America have submitted bids for the administration of Puerto La Union, although the tender process will be carried out during the rest of the year, said Alberto Arene, president of the Executive Committee of Autonomous Ports (CEPA in Spanish).
Airport authority CEPA is analyzing the proposals of U.S., French and Japanese companies for the comprehensive expansion of Comalapa.
The proposals are to update the Airport Master Plan made by Aeropuertos de Paris in 2007, to expand the International Airport of El Salvador (AIES), but it is not necessarily another plan of the same magnitude, said the president of the ECA, Alberto Arene.
The infrastructure work and renovation of radar and communications equipment brings the investment to $66 million.
The renovation of the El Salvador International Airport (AIES by its Spanish abbreviations) has entered its first phase, which includes the installation of an elevator, construction of new bleachers, replacement of half the air conditioning systems and changing of 50 % of all toilets.
When construction began in 2008, eastern El Salvador was filled with hope and investment projects, which are now frustrated by a port that does not work.
The port terminal, built at a cost of $200 million and opened in 2010, to date has little maritime activity.
Business groups have spent a lot of money in the business of transporting containers and goods, hotels to accommodate the waves of foreign tourists expected, and there were those who spent large sums on land, warehouses and other buildings. Instead of increasing fortunes, what local investors have experienced is frustration and disappointment. Along with sums contributed by the private sector, are the substantial funds spent by the State which do not helped much either.
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) in El Salvador will be launching an international tender in August and awarding the contract in December.
According to the schedule prepared by the institution, interested companies have from the first of August (the date that the tender will be launched) until November 15th, 2012, to submit their bids.