The $700 million (US) Quito International Airport Project involves the operation of Ecuador’s current capital city airport high in the Andes Mountains, and the design, financing, construction and operation of a new greenfield airport as a replacement.   The project is procured under a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFO) delivery model with a 35-year concession term.

Quito’s new airport will feature a 4,100 metre runway, a 38,000m2 state-of-the-art passenger terminal building and 34,000m2 of additional buildings, which include a world-class control tower, cargo, hangar, catering and ancillary aviation facilities. The new airport will be an engine of economic growth for Ecuador by providing economic opportunities for hundreds of businesses and thousands of workers.

Aecon is the lead developer, investor and contractor on this key airport project, holding 45.5% of the project equity and a 50% share of the construction joint venture.  Andrade Gutierrez Concessions of Brazil also carries 45.5% of the project’s equity. AGC’s construction affiliate, Andrade Gutierrez Construction, is Aecon’s construction venture partner.   Airport operations are carried out in partnership with the Houston Airport System and Airport Development Corporation, a minority shareholder in the concession.

Aecon and partners have been operating the existing Quito airport since November, 2002 and will operate the new airport from its scheduled opening, in the Fall of 2012, until the end of the concession term in early 2041.

In 2009, the Quito Airport project won the prestigious Best Practices on Environmental Sustainability in the Americas Award, as presented by CIFAL – a United Nations Training Centre. Other awards have included the 2005 Latin American Airport Finance Deal of the Year (Air Finance Journal) and the 2006 Latin American Transport Deal of the Year (Project Finance Magazine).