VECA Airlines will start operations in the Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport on April 27, with flights to San Salvador and San Jose.
After the announcement by Nicaraguan tourism authorities, the low-cost airline VECA Airlines confirmed on its website that it will start flights from Managua to San Salvador (direct flight) and San Jose (one stop) from April 27.
Tenants of commercial property at the international airport have announced they will not make investments until the government states whether it will renew contracts and maintain rent costs.
The lack of concrete answers from the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) could endanger new investment of at least 84 tenants operating in the El Salvador International Airport, reported Elsalvador.com.
The low-cost airline Transportes Aereos Guatemaltecos plans to offer a daily flight from Ilopango airport in Guatemala City.
The airline Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos will start operations on March 20, offering a daily flight from Ilopango airport east of San Salvador, to La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala. The flight between the two cities will take approximately 30 minutes.
There has been a favourable response to the bill establishing an open skies policy based on reciprocity with states and airlines.
From a press release by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador:
The Commission of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Legislative Assembly, reached a favourable ruling regarding the reform to the Civil Aviation Act, to establish in the country a "Open Skies Policy" and create greater competitiveness in the airlines market with fares which are more accessible to users.
Changes in Avianca flight paths added 600,000 passengers per year to the current movements, forcing development of a plan for emergency works.
The increase in passenger arrivals is due to the hub belonging to Avianca. This has motivated the Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma (CEPA) to speed up the work being carried out at the International Airport El Salvador (AIES) in order to be able to attend to the new passengers.
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.
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 modernization of El Salvador International Airport will be financed with a securitization fund of $77.7 million.
The company Hencorp has been chosen by Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma (CEPA) to structure the securitization on the Stock Exchange of El Salvador.
Of the proposals by the two securitization companies invited to participate, the board of CEPA selected Hencorp based on lower process costs (structuring, placement and securitization fund management).
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 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 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.
Several projects to improve the operations of the El Salvador International Airport will start next year, totalling an investment of $40 million.
Following recommendations by the Civil Aviation Organization, the first step will be the modernization of systems and infrastructure improvements followed by a second stage of expansion works.
The proposed works include resurfacing the runway and complementary roads, valued at $22 million, and the modernization of the radar control center, valued at $2.5 million.
The refurbishment of the terrace of El Salvador International Airport marks the beginning of an expansion process for the entire terminal.
The Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA) will begin the refurbishment of the terrace during the first quarter of this year.
"CEPA hopes to make the place more attractive by building seven shops, set benches for visitors and cover the ceiling with a glass material which allows sighting of aircrafts,” informed Elmundo.com.sv.
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