The government has begun work on rebuilding the main runway of Córdoba’s international airport with a total planned investment of two billion pesos.
This brings the total of runways jointly reconstructed by the Transport Ministry and Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 in the last two years up to nine – more than in the previous 18 since between 1997 and 2015 only seven runways were overhauled, an official communiqué informs.
The new infrastructure will also give Córdoba the latest technology for maximum flight security.
“Our work to transform airport infrastructure nationwide is unprecedented; this is a sector which was stagnant when we came to government and has not stopped growing since, adding 7.5 million more passengers this year,” said Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich.
“That growth,” he continued, “must be accompanied by works such as this, fundamental for the safety of operations, which is our priority. More flights mean more tourism and with it jobs and opportunities for increasingly more Argentines.”
Patricio Di Stefano, head of the Orsna (Organismo Regulador del Sistema Nacional de Aeropuertos) aviation watchdog, highlighted that these works form part of "a most ambitious plan at regional level to modernise airport infrastructure".
“We are proud of the development which the impact of the Aviation Revolution is giving to the province of Córdoba,” said Martín Eurnekian, the president of Aeropuertos Argentina 2000.
The Córdoba works (scheduled for completion next May) include rebuilding the approaches to the runway and installing a state-of-the-art beaconing system.
A total of 140.000 square metres is to be surfaced with concrete and asphalt, as well as horizontal demarcation lines and hydraulic works.
Unlike in other airports around the country, rebuilding the runway will not mean shutting down the airport since (like Ezeiza), Córdoba has a secondary runway from where airlines may operate during the work.
Córdoba’s future airport beaconing technology will only be the second in the country after Ezeiza, permitting aeroplanes to operate despite unfavourable visibility conditions.