Since Los Cerrillos Airport offering service in Santiago, the capital of Chile, couldn't be able to meet the demands of the growing area of this city, the construction of a new airport was started in 1961. The other airport in the city was completely closed with the opening of the new airport called Arturo Merino Benitez Airport in 1967. A new terminal area bearing the traces of the French architecture and covering an area of 90 thousand square meters was built in 1994 with an aim to welcome international passengers and giving an international status to the airport. A part of Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, which offers services to many destinations in Europe, America and Oceania and is the most important airport of the country, is still being used by the Chilean Air Force. In 2008, the airport reached its maximum capacity of 20 million passengers annually.
A Merino Benitez Airport connects Santiago, which hosts almost half of the Chilean population, with the world. The airport is meeting the transportation needs of its passengers with metro, taxi and rental vehicles.
The taxis belonging to Euro Taxi and Radiotaxi companies, which are waiting for their passengers in the parking area in front of the terminal building of A Merino Benitez Airport, apply increased tariff on weekends and holidays. In addition, passengers who use a taxi from 10 pm to 7 am are required to pay a fee based on night tariff.
The metro which does not have a stop at the airport and the passengers who want to go to the city center can reach the Barrancas stop after an 8 minutes taxi journey and can go to the city center by metro from there. Metro, which makes its first ride at 05:40 in the morning, continues to carry passengers until 23:35 in the night. You can buy tickets sold at discounts on weekends. The passengers who want to go to the city center need to follow the Los Heroes stop and get off here.
Passengers who prefer a private rental car to reach the city center can rent a car from three car rental companies in the terminal building. While Europcar operates 24 hours a day, Sixt accepts passengers between 07:00 and 22:00 all week and Alamo between 06:30 and 23:00 all week.
Last Updated: 01 May 2017A Merino Benitez Airport, 16 kilometers west of Santiago city center, can be quickly reached by taxi or metro. Passengers can also go to the airport with special vehicles that can be rented from car rental companies.
Taxis that can take you from Santiago to Merino Benitez Airport in about 20 minutes, are applying a high tariff on weekends, holidays and night time.
With the metro that you can take from the Los Heroes metro station in Santiago you can reach the Barrancas stop which is just 10 minutes away from the airport. To use the metro you can buy tickets from the counters around the station. From Barrancas stop you have to take an 8 minute taxi ride to the airport.
Avis, Budget, Enterprise and Alamo car hire companies provide you the option to rent a car with or without a driver. You can rent a car from these companies at any time, or arrange a private vehicle to pick you up from wherever you are and take you to the airport.
There is a four-storey terminal building at A Merino Benitez Airport, which covers a large area. The terminal building, which is undergoing renovations, is planned to be opened in 2020 with much wider features. The current terminal building has duty free shops, luggage space and parking space on the ground floor. On the first floor there are rest rooms reserved for VIP companies, on the second floor, shops, restaurants and entrance doors are located. On the third floor of the building, there is also a check-in area reserved for the customers of restaurants and VIP passengers.
You can find bank ATMs, telephone operator shops, pharmacies, travel agency shops, health care room and insurance offices spread over different floors of the building. In the terminal there is a reserved area for those who are VIP passengers. In this section you can access VIP lounges of Latam, Pacific Club, Voyage, Delta Sky Club, American Airlines and Avianca companies.
There are many restaurants, cafes and bars in the airport for travelers to meet their eating and drinking needs. These are La Pausa, Cybo Bistro, Fritz, Gatsby, Ruby Tuesday, Subway, Telepizza, Johnny Rockets, Pronto Copec, McDonald's, Cafe Danes, Bakery & Co, Cafe On Time, Cinnabon, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Tamarugo, Patagonia Cafe, Espression Lavazza , Vinum and Heineken Star Lounge.
Among the places you can shop at the airport are stores ranging from cosmetics to clothing, technology and music to jewelry. Among these are Bath & Body Works, MAC Cosmetics, Punto Musical, Samsung, MacOnline Express, Garmin, Gizmobies, Fotokina, MOW, La Cava del Vino, Kubox, Jugueteria Alemana, BirttShop Chile, Licantai, Toc's, Rumbo Sur, Piedra Linda, Sol y Mar , Piedras Australes, Jewelery Me, Swarovski and Hugo Boss.
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You can use Coquimbo Airport as an alternative to Arturo Merino Benitez Intl. Airport.