Airport Overview

The José María Córdova International Airport has ICAO 4F category, it is the second largest airport in Colombia after El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, in terms of infrastructure and passenger service. It is located in the city of Rionegro, 45 minutes from the city of Medellín. In recent years, important improvements have been made in its technology and infrastructure, making it one of the most recognized airports in Colombia, in addition to the latest service to European and new destinations in South, Central America and the Caribbean.

In accordance with the Operational Plan of the José María Córdova International Airport, in 2015 the modernization actions were carried out. They have been implemented from modern flight departure and arrival information systems (more than 10 LCD screens around the terminal to replace the old boards) to technological improvements of navigation aids and implementation of best environmental practices. The passenger terminal has the capacity to receive up to 17 aircraft with boarding bridges, 10 national and 7 international, being positions 7, 8, 9 and 10 mixed for national and international flights. It also has a cargo terminal, which can accommodate up to ten aircraft. It is an important focus for the export of flowers and other products from eastern Antioquia and the region. Near this terminal is the customs area and hangars of the Tampa airline.

Airport Picture

Description and Contacts of Key Companies

The main entities and authorities that operate at the Jose María Córdova Airport are:

• DIAN. The purpose of the Special Administrative Unit for the Directorate of Taxes and National Customs, DIAN, is to help guarantee the fiscal security of the Colombian State and the protection of the national economic public order.
• Anti-narcotics Directorate. It contributes to the goals of the National Government in its policy to combat drug trafficking and other offenses, neutralizing activities related to and related to this crime, which affect the national and international community.
• Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA). The procedures with the Institution will be carried out in the Administrative Center of Cargo (CAC), pets in crates in office 23 and the phyto and zoosanitary inspections in the cargo holds.
• Migration Colombia. Civil security entity; Autonomous and attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose objective is to exercise the functions of surveillance and immigration control and immigration authority of the Colombian State.
• AIRPLAN, according to the concession contract managed with Aerocivil, is the company in charge of the administration, operation, commercial exploitation, adaptation, modernization and maintenance of the Airport.

Some of the private companies that provide services at Aeropuerto Internacional José María Córdova  are:

• AH Colombia S.A. It is the first company in the airport industry with Chinese capital outside the PRC in the world. It was created to venture into investment and operation opportunities in airports in Latin America in order to take advantage of experience in areas such as design, commercial development, construction, operation, maintenance, regulation and airport security.
• Avianca. It is the commercial brand that represents the Latin American airlines integrated in Avianca Holdings S.A., which has been highlighted for its excellence in service. With airlines specialized in passenger and cargo transport, it directly serves more than 100 destinations in 28 countries in America and Europe aboard a modern fleet of 180 short, medium and long-range aircraft. Additionally, it flies to 1,300 destinations in 192 countries on five continents.
• Avianca Cargo, formerly Tampa Cargo, is a Colombian cargo airline with operations in the American continent, which it operates mainly from Bogotá and Miami. Currently Avianca Cargo operates as a subsidiary of Avianca previously called Tampa Cargo and has a codeshare agreement on all routes where it operates for the use of the holds of its passenger aircraft.
• Copa Airlines. Panama's international airline, flies to 74 destinations in 31 countries in North, Central, South America and the Caribbean. In addition, the airline maintains a strategic alliance with the American company United Airlines. Copa Airlines has a strategic business unit in Colombia that will provide logistics solutions in cargo transportation, safely, efficiently and with high quality standards in the processes.
• LATAM Cargo has a large presence in Latin America, one of its most desirable attributes being the capillarity of its network. This allows the company to offer a great connection to, from and within the region. The portfolio includes highly specialized treatments, such as PHARMA, for the transport of pharmaceutical products; ALIVE, for the transport of live animals; o PROTECT, for vulnerable shipments ”.

Passenger and Cargo Performance Indicator

The airport has announced an additional modernization program. In April 2017, Civil Aeronautics declared the construction of a second runway in the international terminal of social interest and public utility, publishing a master development plan until 2040.

In the first phase, projected between 2016 and 2021, works will be carried out to widen the runway strip, creating two platforms for commercial aviation and general aviation.

For phase two, which runs from 2022 to 2026, works are planned to extend the runway to 4 thousand meters (currently it measures 3,600 meters), extension of the commercial platform and the expansion of the passenger terminal, which will allow an internal reorganization of commercial and airline service areas and improvement of the cargo terminal

Likewise, this master plan included the construction of a second runway for the airport between 2038 and 2040.

The passenger terminal has the capacity to receive up to 12 aircraft with boarding bridges, 8 national and 4 international, with positions 7, 8, 9 and 10 mixed for national and international flights thanks to the flow separator that connects the plane with two aisles , one for departures and another for arrivals, thus avoiding the crossing of passengers.

Runways

The runway is also used by the neighboring Colombian Air Force military base called Comando Aéreo de Combate N ° 5 (CACOM 5). The airport has VOR, DME, and ILS air navigation radio aids, which allow greater ease of operation for pilots and greater safety when operating in bad weather conditions. The airport has category ICAO 4F.

Helicopter Pad

The helicopter platform is for military use, located on the taxiway that connects the military platform with the runway.

Airport Infrastructure Details

In 2017, the works and facilities of the modernization program in the security systems, flight information through digital screens, communication with high technology, arrival of passengers to waiting rooms with commercial offer, improvement of the services of airport health, improvement of firefighting services and improvement of baggage handling systems. In addition, works were carried out to adapt the airport for passenger mobility, the international platform was expanded, a JetBlast deflector barrier was installed, the cargo terminal was expanded, the runway was repaved and fuel hydrants were installed in the new parking positions. The refueling capacity at the Rionegro airport has 11 boarding bridges each with a JET A-1 Pit, 1 tank vehicle with a capacity of 300 gallons, 1 of 2,800 gallons, 1 of 3,000 gallons, 1 of 3,150 gallons, 1 of 4,800 gallons, 1 of 5,000 gallons, 1 of 6,000 gallons, and 1 of 6,500 gallons. The fuel supply is carried out by private companies such as Terpel and Energizar Aviación and operates 24 hours a day.

The objectives of the modernization and expansion plan are to guarantee aviation safety and the comfort of passengers and their companions, and to comply with the requirements of ICAO, AEROCIVIL (the Colombian civil aviation authority) and IATA.

Airport Operating Details

Customs Guidance

According to Article 90 of Decree 2685 of 1999, all means of transport that reach the national customs territory must arrive at the places authorized by the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN).

The transporter or the airport agent that has warehouses in the places of arrival for the transitory handling of cargo, must obtain the respective authorization of the place by the DIAN in accordance with the provisions of Decree 390 of 2016.

Once the merchandise arrives, the travel documents are received and registered, the merchandise is presented to the customs authority. The merchandise presented is understood to be that of foreign origin related in the cargo manifest (air waybill) that have the entry authorization issued by Civil Aeronautics. The Information of the Cargo Manifest is presented through the Electronic Computing Services and must correspond at least to the following data:

1. Identification of the means of transport
2. Travel data, such as:
   1. Origin of the goods.
   2. Destination place.
   3. Weight and total quantity of cargo units to be transported.
   4. Transport document numbers.
   5. Number of packages, weight.
   6. The indication of consolidated cargo

The information of the transport documents that is presented through electronic computer services, regarding the transport documents and consolidators, must contain at least the following data:

1. NIT of the consignee (other than that of the temporary or customs warehouse)
2. Tariff subheading
3. Type of load
4. Number and date of the transport document or the consolidating document
5. Quantity of packages, weight and volume, as appropriate
6. Identification of the load unit, when applicable
7. general description of the merchandise
8. Other characteristics of the transportation contract as required by DIAN.

The carrier must deliver the information of the travel documents, through electronic computer services, with a minimum anticipation of 3 hours before the arrival of the means of transport, by air.

At the time of the arrival of the means of transport to the national customs territory, the transporter or his representative will report such fact, through electronic computer services. Upon receipt of the arrival notice, the DIAN will authorize the unloading of the merchandise. For customs purposes, the date of arrival of the merchandise to the national customs territory will be that of the acknowledgment of receipt of the arrival notice through electronic computer services.

The merchandise unloaded at the airport will remain under the responsibility of the carrier or the international freight agent, as the case may be, until its delivery to the multimodal transport operator or to the consignee, either the authorized warehouse, the declarant, the customs agency, or the user operator of the free zone in which the user whose name is registered is located, or to whom the transport document is endorsed.

Finally, in the recognition procedure, the conformity between the cargo and the information recorded in the travel documents and the documents that support the commercial operation will be verified, as well as compliance with the requirements set forth in special regulations, without prejudice to the power to practice the diligence of gauging on the merchandise, when the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs determines it.

Once the unloading completion report has been submitted, the goods are delivered to a temporary warehouse or to a free zone where the user in whose name it is consigned is located or the transport document is endorsed within the following 2 business days .

At that time, the import declaration (DUA) is presented in the DIAN computer system and acceptance is given; Next, customs taxes are settled and paid in bank or by electronic transfer. Subsequently, with the confirmation of payment of the declaration in the system, the release of the merchandise is requested in this same medium. The lift can lead to physical or automatic inspection; if it is the first, the DIAN inspector must verify that the physical merchandise agrees with what is stated in the documents to finally issue the release and free disposal of the merchandise. In case of being automatic, the release and free disposition are obtained immediately.

Storage Facilities

The cargo terminal will be refurbished by reconversion of the Tampa hangar, providing an additional 4000 m2 of warehouses. In turn, the hangar is relocated to the new maintenance area at the southern end of the airport. Currently there are several cargo operators with their own warehouses:

 COPA, Avianca, Deprisa, LAS Cargo, Air Cargo Pack, Centurión Cargo, Girag Air Cargo, LAN Cargo, ACS, Colombian Air Cargo, Girag Airport Services, and Almaviva. In the base scenario, it is considered that the cargo terminal space is divided by origin / destination and by type of product.

Airfield Costs

Navigation Charges

The country's aeronautical authority - AEROCIVIL is in charge of establishing and collecting the collections for airport fees and charges: use of facilities, protection and security services for aircraft, parking on platforms, etc. Aircraft assigned to Search and Rescue (SAR)  due to a disaster will be exempt from the collection of airport taxes.

* Prices are referential, values may vary

Fuel Service Charges

(*) values may vary, prices subject to variation

Cargo Terminal Charges

Air-Bridge Charges

For the use of the boarding bridges of the international piers in the airports managed by AEROCIVIL, they must pay a fee of USD $ 112. The boarding bridges of the national piers at the airports will pay a rate of 6 daily legal minimum wages in force (66SMLDV).

Security

José María Córdova Airport has a security system called CECOA. It has a video wall equipped with the VIDOS management software, 80 surveillance cameras are distributed (dome type cameras, fixed, mini domes) It does not have a thermal camera, perimeter surveillance (out of service since the beginning of the MRO of Avianca). It receives the fire or intrusion alarm signal and it is who transmits it to whom it corresponds, the 140 screens (FIDs and BIDs) of the airport, the 7 CUSS (self check-in) and the 52 check-in counters are monitored and updated, all the collected documentation is recorded at 6 on digital recorders.