Carriel Sur International Airport

Carriel Sur International Airport (IATA: CCP, ICAO: SCIE) is located in Concepción, approximately 500 km southwest of Santiago. It is the second largest airport in Chile and serves domestic traffic for LAN Airlines and Sky Airline. Due to its close proximity to Arturo Merino Benitez it also serves as a primary alternate airport for it, usually receiving international traffic from Santiago as the airport closes due to weather.

Although plans of building an airport near Concepción date back to 1954, construction began only in 1960, shortly after the May 22nd earthquake, as it became imperative to count with a modern airport to link Chile's south-central region with the rest of the country. The airport was finally opened to the public on January 3, 1968. No airline accidents have been recorded in relation with the airport, although bird ingestions during takeoff have occurred causing rejected takeoffs or emergency returns from departing aircraft. No casualties derived from such bird ingestions have been recorded.