Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich was in Comodoro Rivadavia on Monday to inspect the new installations at the General Enrique Mosconi Airport in the company of Chubut Governor Mariano Arcioni and the city’s mayor Carlos Linares. The works (including new arrival and departure halls, a food court and two new gates in the embarkment area for a total of four) are 60 percent complete and scheduled to be finished in February. Over 300,000 passengers annually stand to benefit from a total investment of 700 million pesos.

Dietrich stressed that the project was made possible by governments of different parties and reflected thinking federally. Comodoro is not the only Chubut airport in line for upgrading – the minister stressed that Trelew is the airport which has most grown in Argentina despite a lengthy runway closure, adding: “We will shortly be starting works to boost the airport at Esquel, another tourist paradise.”

The modernization being carried out by the Transport Ministry in alliance with Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 implies a total investment of 1.5 billion pesos creating around 900 jobs – part of the air revolution transforming 30 airports nationwide. The 1.2 million passengers aboard domestic flights in March represent 16% growth against the same month last year.

The total area of the new terminal will be 6,500 square metres, an expansion of over 50% from the current 4,200. The works will include new parking facilities (already almost complete) more than doubling capacity from 250 to 573 spaces. The customs and immigration offices will also be expanded. Reconstruction of the runway is scheduled for the second half of this year.

One novelty of the works is that they will make Comodoro the first sustainable airport in the country since the terminal is being built in accordance with the Leed system of international certification.