Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

Brief information

Santiago Airport is important not only because of its size: it is located in the central part of Chile and functions as a hub where domestic flights, international routes, and Latin America’s long-distance connections with Oceania converge. Its layout therefore reads as transfer infrastructure, not simply as a place of arrival in the capital.

The airport also has a less obvious side: it is a joint-use facility. The headquarters of the 2nd Air Brigade of the Chilean Air Force and the base of the 10th Aviation Group are located on its grounds. Civil terminals, cargo operations, and military aviation all occupy the same territory here, so the airport’s scale is explained not only by passenger flights.

What to notice first

The main layout feature is the modern international terminal, built between two parallel runways. This position shows that the building was conceived as the operational center of the airfield: passengers, gates, jet bridges, aprons, and aircraft movement are connected around a single service axis.

It is worth comparing the terminal’s vertical organization: the lower level is connected with arrivals, baggage, border control, transport services, parking, and access to the hotel; above are offices and the premium lounge; the second floor is devoted to departures, check-in, customs, shops, and boarding gates; the third to restaurants. Another useful detail is the covered walkway to the five-story Holiday Inn, which is connected to both terminals. After the 2010 earthquake, it was the pedestrian bridge between the car drop-off area and the departure area that collapsed, but the runways continued operating. This changes the way one views the airport: the passenger connection proved vulnerable, while the airfield side preserved its function.