A South Korean consortium led by Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) has won a $30m deal to project manage the construction of a new international airport in Peru, Business Korea reports.Â
The team will lead work on Chinchero International Airport, near the former Inca capital of Cuzco. When it opens in 2024, it will have a single 4km-long runway and a capacity of up to 5.7 million passengers a year.
The consortium will be in charge of project delivery, including selecting construction firms, contract management, quality inspection, design review and commissioning.
KAC was named by the Peruvian government as the preferred bidder to oversee the $600m project, which will replace the Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport.
The 480,000 sq m airport will be the gateway to Machu Picchu, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world, and will allow more direct flights.
However, for this reason it has been opposed by archaeologists and local activists who argue that it will damage Inca remains.
KAC has also landed a deal to operate Manta Airport in Ecuador until 2050. At present the airport’s passenger terminal is being repaired after suffering earthquake damage. When the reconstruction is completed in 2020, KAC will set up a special-purpose company and directly operate the airport for 30 years from 2021 to 2050.
Image: A market in Chinchero (Bernard Gagnon/CC BY-SA 3.0)
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