PROINVERSIÓN reported that there are currently three (3) concessions for airport projects in Peru through Public-Private Associations (PPPs) that include a total of 18 airports, with scheduled investments that would exceed US$3bn.
These are the concessions for the Jorge Chávez International Airport, awarded in 2001, with an investment commitment of more than US$1.73bn; the First Group of Regional Airports that covers 12 airports in the north and center of the country, awarded in 2006, with an investment commitment of US$635mn; and the Second Group of Regional Airports, awarded in 2011, made up of five (5) airports in the south of the country, with an investment commitment of almost US$200mn.
To these close to US$2.6bn of investment commitments reported by OSITRAN, additional investments would be added, highlighting those that LAP has been carrying out, through the expansion works at Jorge Chávez Airport.
In all three concessions, the private sector has the obligation to maintain and operate the airports with high levels of safety and quality, required through airport and commercial services. Within the framework of the so-called mandatory or initial works, the private sector was commissioned to expand and remodel the terminals, rehabilitate the runways, parking lots, among other interventions.
According to data from OSITRAN (as of January 2023), accumulated investments in airport infrastructure development reached US$588mn, in charge of the concessionary companies: Lima Airport Partner (LAP), Aeropuertos del Perú and Aeropuertos Andinos del Perú. Of this total, LAP has received approximately US$377mn, Aeropuertos del Perú US$141mn and Aeropuertos Andinos del Perú US$69mn.
In the case of LAP, according to figures provided by the company itself, from the beginning of the concession (2001) until the end of 2022, it would have invested a total of US$1.234bn; In 2022 alone, it would have invested US$316mn in the Jorge Chávez International Airport Expansion Project (known as NewLIM) and almost US$15mn in the current terminal. “The total investment that will be made in the Airport Expansion Project will be more than US$2bn,” said Milagros Montes, manager of Regulation and Public Affairs at LAP.
For its part, in the Second Group of Airports, US$126 million is in the Works contracting stage, US$156mn in the engineering development stage, and US$360mn in pre-investment studies.
The concession through the PPP modality has made it possible to modernize the country’s airport infrastructure, improving the quality of service, increasing connectivity and promoting productive, commercial (export and import) and service activities, especially those related to tourist activities: the flow of tourists in collective lodging establishments tripled in 15 years, from just over 26mn in 2005 to 83mn in 2019 (pre-pandemic year), while the number of lodging establishments went from more than 9.6 thousand in 2005 to 23.6 thousand in 2019. This also benefited tourist centers, restaurants, museums, among others, generating significant foreign currency income.
Likewise, the concessions helped to adequately meet the increased demand from users and, therefore, the increase in the number of flights. For example, in the case of Jorge Chávez International Airport, the number of flights went from 61 thousand flights in 2001 to 198 thousand flights in 2019, and the number of passengers multiplied six (6) times in the same period (from 4 to 24 million annually).
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
The investments have also made it possible to comply with international standards -as is the case of LAP- in relation to the time that services are provided and the size of spaces for passengers (public departure hall, international Boarding pass control, migrations), according to a study carried out by IATA in 2019.
In the case of regional airports, the investments of both concessions and the operational efficiencies have made it possible to improve the quality of their services. Thus, for example, at the airports of Trujillo, Pucallpa, Tarapoto and Tacna, the levels of service in the Public Departure Hall and Check-In have been met in accordance with international standards and this has helped to improve the perception of the service of the airport remains at high levels…
