MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Montevideo's airport to close for two days for upgrading work

After the update, landing will be allowed with a visibility of only 100 meters, against today's 800

Montevideo's Carrasco International Airport will be closed from 9 am Tuesday to 9 am Thursday due to improvement works on its ILS landing system, which will enable operations under poorer visibility, it was reported in the Uruguayan capital. Travelers were advised to check with their airlines about possible delays or reroutings.

A similar stoppage will take place between 9 am on Sept. 2 and 9 am on Sept. 4 to complete the works.

The project, which began in January and is expected to be finished in October, is a more than US$20 million investment. It will install a new radio navigation system, an advanced weather station, and a new LED lighting system with 2,000 new lights. The upgraded system will allow planes to land in bad weather with a ground visibility of only 100 meters, significantly reducing flight diversions and delays caused by fog.

According to Carrasco authorities, the airlines were already contacting the affected passengers, with reschedulings free of charge. Additionally, the air terminal is accepting inquiries at the following email address: ilscarrasco@aeropuertosuruguay.com.uy.

Airport sources confirmed that works on the secondary runway (01-19) and taxiways have already been completed, including the installation of 290 LED lights and the replacement of 45 kilometers of lighting cable. During this stage, new constant current regulator equipment featuring the latest LED technology, sourced from the United States and Belgium, was also installed.

Meanwhile, work on the main runway began in June and is expected to be completed in October. In the meantime, all traffic is operating on runway 01-19.

Work is currently underway to install the localizer and glide slope antennas, two components that provide lateral and vertical guidance for aircraft landing.

The bases for the various sensors of the new weather station distributed along the runway are also being built, and the laying of the power supply and fiber optic ring has begun.

In total, the work involves the installation of a new radio navigation system, an advanced weather station with sensors strategically distributed along the main runway, and a new LED lighting system with the installation of 2,000 new lights.

The new system will allow aircraft on autopilot to land with a ground visibility of 100 meters and a decision height of 15 meters, which will “significantly” improve the airport's operational levels, with more predictability for passengers and greater safety for pilots, according to airport officials.

“Today, pilots are authorized to land if they have 800 meters of visibility, with a decision height of 60 meters. If they cannot see the runway at 60 meters, they have to go to Ezeiza or Santiago de Chile, which means flights are diverted or rescheduled,” Jorge Navarro, manager of Infrastructure and Maintenance at Aeropuertos Uruguay, explained.