Ecuador travel: Final agreements on Quito airport to be signed
COUNTRY BRIEFING
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
Final agreements on building a new international airport outside Quito are
set to be signed. The resulting contracts will facilitate the issuing of some
US$400m in loans needed to complete construction on the terminal and runways.
Until now, only Canadian Commercial (CCC) has been able to begin any sort of
construction, on access roads. Disagreements between CCC and the local
authorities over finances and various responsibilities had delayed the signing
of these final documents. Consequently, the project's completion date has been
rescheduled to 2009 from June 2007. The new airport, to be built 25 km east of
Quito in Puembo, will replace an existing facility that is within the capital
city's limits and will be capable of handling newer, wide-bodied aircraft.
