CEPA has announced that its master plan for the renovation and modernization of the El Salvador International Airport will be ready in November.
According to Alberto Arene, president of the Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma (CEPA), the plan aims to leverage more non-airport operations and will be executed next year.
In terms of how modern the infrastructure for air transport is, Panama leads the field, followed distantly by Costa Rica.
"None of the airports in Central America comes close to knocking Tocumen off its number one position in the ranking by Skytrax, nor the ranking by the World Economic Forum. The latter measures the quality of infrastructure for air travel in the country , where Panama climbed from 38th place in 2007 to last year reach the prestigious position of sixth place," reported Elsalvador.com.
The infrastructure in most airports in Central America can not cover the increase in the number of air passengers transiting in the region.
In the region, traffic has increased by almost 80% over the last ten years going from 95 million to 170 million passengers. "Today, 30% of Latin American flights take off or land at congested airports, which constitutes one of the main difficulties in the development of the airline industry," noted an article in Eleconomista.net.
A new wind farm and the expansion of the International Airport of El Salvador, are the first two projects to be conducted under this system.
"Today (yesterday) I called a meeting with the president of CEPA (Autonomous Executive Port Commission) and CEL (Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River) to immediately structure the first two projects: the expansion of the international airport and the wind project which the CEL is working with," said Alexander Segovia, Technical Secretary of the Presidency.
As of yesterday a tender was launched for the repair of the airport in Comalapa's runway, a project that will consume, along with another nine, 65% of the $58.3 million raised in a recent securitization.
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA by its initials in Spanish) said the project also includes the rehabilitation of 240,000 square meters of road surfacing taxiways (alternative routes to the main runway), as well as other areas of the airport.
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission has raised $58.3 million for the renovation, modernization and optimization of El Salvador International Airport.
A statement from the Stock Exchange of El Salvador reads:
CEPA raises U.S. $58.29 MILLION FOR TRANSFORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
- First offering of securities by a central government institution and the largest securitization with the lowest financial cost in the country's history.
Mobile boarding bridges, construction supervision, air conditioning systems and runway resurfacing, among other things, will be put out to tender in March 2013.
Having raised $59 million through a securitization backed by future revenues, the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA by its initials in Spanish) now has the resources to start the Plan for Renovation, Modernization and Optimization of the International Airport of El Salvador.
The expansion and modernization of the International Airport in El Salvador will be funded through securities, which will be issued on 18 February.
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission of El Salvador (CEPA by its initials in Spanish) will issue securities worth $58.3 million, which will be complemented by a loan taken out with the BCIE in order to expand the El Salvador International Airport (AIES by its initials in Spanish), whose investment is around $70 million.
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission has announced that next January refurbishment of the International Airport of El Salvador will start.
This comes after having secured funds through a securitization and a loan from Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
"Some works have already started, such as the remodeling of the stairs in the passenger reception area, a passenger elevator and improved air conditioning in part of the airport.
The Goverment of El Salvador has decided that the expansion of the International Airport of El Salvador will be conducted via a public-private association.
The technical secretary of the presidency announced that they decided to use this mechanism due to the “large resources required by the expansion”.
“We plan to do this expansion via a public private partnership for a simple reason: the state lacks the resources.
In January 2013 the United Nations Program for Development will launch tenders for 78 projects on ports and airports in El Salvador.
The President of the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) Alberto Arene and the Resident Coordinator of the UN System in El Salvador and Resident Representative of the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) Roberto Valent, signed this Wednesday 31 October a Project Document entitled "Modernization Program and Strategic Asset Management of CEPA", which aims to contribute to the transformation of CEPA and its businesses and to help it utilise opportunities provided by technology and the business models for infrastructure, transport and logistics of the XXI Century.
It is not only the ports on the South and East Coast of the U S that have to make provisions for the expansion of the Panama Canal.
Ports in the Caribbean and Latin America will also have a before and after the expansion of the Canal.
Post-Panamax ships require more depth in the access channels to ports and their docks, and this means adjustments to infrastructure need to be made early enough in order to stay in the market as shipping destination, after the inauguration of the new Canal in 2014.
The CABEI has approved loans for infrastructure work in ports and airports, and construction of prisons amounting to $92 million and $71 million respectively.
A statement from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) reads:
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has approved funding for the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA in Spanish) of the Republic of El Salvador for an amount of up to U.S.
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.