Hundreds of people arrived in Medellín over the weekend, many of them motivated by the two concerts that the singer Bad Bunny gave in the city. The return of these people to their cities of origin, added to the local travelers, caused the José María Córdova airport in Rionegro to collapse. The lines appeared from early morning until the morning of this Monday, November 21.
As usual, user complaints were posted on social networks, mainly on Twitter. Travelers lamented the long lines, which even went around several times until they reached the counters. “In the airport there is no room for standing rice”, someone commented.
“Good morning to everyone, except for me who arrived late at the Rionegro airport and found this beautiful scene to enter the room,” another user commented when sharing a video showing the huge queue.
Las inconveniences at Rionegro airport they have become constant. THE COLOMBIAN published a report on September 14, in which the situation is detailed.
The testimonials of the local merchants are a good indicator to review the problem: “The lines reach the outside, they go around the airport. Other times they go to Avianca, six locations beyond the national income. On weekends this starts to burst,” said Mariana Garzón, who has been working at the terminal for more than a year.
But the perception is not only from businesses, Fredy Jaramillo, airport manager, gave the X-ray: “The growth compared to 2019 is 40%. That year we closed with nine million passengers and this year, as of December 31, we will close with 13 million. There is a little slack left on the international side, but on domestic flights it doesn’t give us more: one sees passengers sitting in the corridors and long lines at the filters,” he said.
There are neuralgic points: the check-in areas, the security areas and the waiting rooms that, in the words of the manager, are collapsing. The arrival area for international travel also suffers from problems: the airport, says Jaramillo, does not have enough Colombian Migration personnel. The chaos in the midst of peak hours has slowed down the operation, confirms Silvia Henao, a merchant at the entrance of international flights.
Quite a few are the images that these days have portrayed the mess that is armed there. “Migration continues with the same plant. They have been working with nine people stamping passports. They combine technology, with entry and exit machines, but it is not enough”, says Jaramillo.
The Rionegro airport will be modernized and the construction of the second runway is expected, a need that was brought forward several years due to the growth of users. At this time, we are waiting for the start of the first expansion works of the terminal.