Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport

Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, located in Santiago, Chile, is Chile's largest aviation facility. It has the IATA Airport Code SCL. www.aeropuertosantiago.cl. The airport is 21km (13 miles) from Santiago (travel time – 30 minutes). Bus services to the city centre operate 24 hours a day. Return is from the underground stations Los Héroes, Estación Central and Las Rejas or Moneda/corner of San Martín. Taxis to the city are also available. Airport facilities include bar, bureaux de change, restaurants, car hire, post office and tourist office.

Airport Data: International, Santiago 14km (8miles), Position 33°23´26"S, 070°47´09"W, Elevation 474m (1,555ft), 24 hours, 2 Passenger Terminals, 1 Cargo Terminal, 31 Aircraft Stands.

No major airline accidents have happened there, but this didn't stop tragedy from knocking on the doors of this airport. During the 1970s, a plane chartered by an Argentinian rugby team from the Uruguay air force crashed in the Chilean side of the Andes while en route to this airport, leaving many people dead and many others to die days later. The survivors of the accident (who were travelling to Santiago to play a rugby match) and the stories of the things they experienced during those days when they were lost, became the subject of a 1992 Hollywood movie: Alive.

Landing (1.6 MB .wmv)