A brief report on the ultra-worn ZAL - SCL route just to show the progress of the construction of the new ZAL terminal.
As I have declared before, Sky is my airline of choice for domestic flights. They are efficient, usually punctual, they have a great website where you can easily find the cheaper tickets, they have a decent onboard menu, etc. You can also pay for extra comfort in the first three rows.
In fact, I didn't pay for a seat this time, so I was beside myself when I got the email announcing that my check-in was ready, and I had been assigned seat 3F!!! Can you believe it??? 🥳
The day of the flight I set my phone alarm to go off at 7:30 a.m., but who needs an alarm when you have Bruno, my neighbor's dog. My mom made a habit from giving him a whole bread roll every morning, so now he starts barking punctually at 7, rain or shine. Now that I moved south again, I was put in charge of this noble task… even though he almost ate my cat some weeks ago. 🙄
ZAL (aka Pichoy Airport) is the second most accessible airport I know (the first being LSC), so "micros" (small rural buses) running between Valdivia and some little towns nearby have become very popular as airport transportation, and they even publish the rate for the trip to the airport on their windshield. 2000 CLP (~2.5 USD) from Valdivia, 1500 CLP (less than 2 USD) from San José de la Mariquina. You pay the driver when you arrive at your stop.
I always enjoy this short walk from the bus stop with a view of the terminal. But… what's going on here??? OMG, a new terminal is under construction and I didn't know it??? I must have been living under a stone these last two years!!
Exactly. This page of the Ministry of Public Works informs about the works.
Among other things, it explains that "the Airports Directorate is completing the comprehensive improvement of the Pichoy Aerodrome. … The last major conservation of the runway was carried out in 2009 and the terminal building has not undergone substantial modifications since it was built six decades ago. … In the last 15 years the number of passengers increased by more than six-fold to more than 400 thousand people in 2024."
It also says that "this contract began in March 2025 and will run for 18 months, with an investment of more than 41 billion CLP (~50 millon USD). The new building will stand in the same place as the current terminal. … The project contemplates the remodeling of the 2,101 m2 of the current terminal, and the construction of an additional 2,727 m2. In total, the new building will have an area of 4,828 square meters. Two new boarding bridges will be enabled, parking lots will be expanded, … the wastewater treatment plant will be expanded, and a new electrical substation will be built."
Here's a video from a local news outlet reporting about the building work. BTW, around minute 3:40 you see a young lady being interviewed. She's the Mayor of Valdivia, and she was my student in high school. (Oh God. I'm so old 😅 ) However, the times I have met her since then she has not called me "profe Nelson" but plainly "Nelson." The audacity! Well, please don't tell her that I didn't vote for her!! Hee, hee.
And here's a virtual model of the new airport terminal. It's available on the Ministry page, but it takes ages to load.
Walking in autopilot, I reach the building site only to discover that there's no trace of the old terminal building. Only the control towers is still standing there.
Sooo… what do I do now? 😅 Luckily, the guy in that little truck on the right tells me that the access to the provisional terminal is some meters behind me. I'm like, "Really?? I didn't see anything!"
So I retrace my steps and realize that I walked past this very visible entrance that I simply overlooked. You overlook a spelling mistake, but… this??? 😅
Nor did I see this sign clearly saying that you must not go the usual way. I have just trespassed!! 😅
I panic for a second, thinking that I might get late to the gate, but the provisional terminal is just some meters away…
…around the corner…
…quite close to the old one.
Continuing with my sudden phase of disdain for airport signage, I enter through the exit side. What's wrong with me? 😅
The temporary terminal is very… white.
It has all the amenities of the old terminal. That is, not many. And I'm missing the candy dispenser.
A terrified meowing makes me shiver. What's the problem with pet owners? The vet will give you something to keep them calm without making them fall asleep.
The counters…
…and the airside waiting room. I quickly head to security control, at the bottom…
…and I'm through in less than three minutes. The boarding room looks much the same as airside.
We board strictly by groups 1 to 4.
Our avión today is seven-year-old CC-AZI.
That's the smallest terminal I have been to! 😂 Or maybe ZOS 🤔
This is heaven! All the seats have a USB port.
The onboard menu. I just wonder why Chilean passengers are restricted to a puny croissant…
…while Peruvians are entitled to buying a large chicken sandwich???
…and at a lower price!!! 🤯 Explain that, Sky!!!
I have a great view of the new terminal under construction.
We push back at 2:29.
Tourism is a main source of income in Valdivia, so it's hard to believe that this was one of the last airports to be modernized.
We're left to our own devices…
…and quickly leave after the safety speech is given by the FAs.
BTW, I'm positively impressed by the FA's English pronunciation. It was definitely NOT like this "dialect," which seems to be from a Latam flight. "Latamese"? 😂
Minutes after takeoff, the BOB service started, but I was so sleepy that I just reclined my seat, adjusted my headrest, and fell asleep! Just like the passenger in 2D.
According to my brain, two minutes later we were descending over Rancagua, some 100km south of Santiago.
Soon we were having a warm welcome at SCL. Yes, very warm. February is the middle of the summer here…
…and Santiago is an oven 🥵 It's 32°C out there. I stop functioning well at 25.
I slept very well here.
Luckily the new concourse at T1 (domestic flights) is ready and we are not sent to the last gate in the farthest international pier, as it used to happen before, so I won't have to walk a lot.
"No return." I wish I had been given this warning each time I made an important life decision. 😭
I stop at a Kmart before I leave the airport and get an empanada de pino* (yes, we eat pine 😂) and a Bilz, which is a grenadine-flavor soda. I'm staying with an old auntie and her husband and they usually eat very light, so I better take some precautions 😅
"Welcome to Santiago." You will do very well to read that red warning, unless you want to be welcomed by some smart taxi driver trying to scam you.
Tourism Bonus - Cerro Santa Lucía
Santiago lies in a flat valley sprinkled with so-called "island hills" because, well, they are isolated like islands in the sea.
One of these island-hills is Santa Lucia, in downtown Santiago. When the Spaniards first came, it was little more than a huge stony promontory, but in time it was made into a beautiful park, with great views of the city.
This is the access.
The first flight of stairs…
…takes you to the Fountain of Neptune.
A bit higher is this arch…
…leading to…
…a little park.
Those ladies were really annoying. They would almost bump into you while filming themselves… walking nowhere!
That telecom tower in the distance is the Entel Tower, built in the early 70s.
The National Library is down there.
Carmen Street going south.
Let's climb a bit more.
It gets really beautiful up here.
From here I can see the headquarters of the Catholic University down there. Very prestigious.
I could go straight to the top from here…
…but there's a path on my left and I'm curious.
Ah, I did very well. There are nice views of downtown Santiago from here…
…and the hill reveals it original, brutal, stony nature.
Yes, a lot of work was done for centuries to turn this hill into the green park it is today. I downloaded a publication called El Álbum del Santa Lucía, from 1874, with photos of this hill. It was… a rock! Just like this:
You can download the album from here.
Lets climb the last stretch…
View towards the south-east.
View towards the west.
Just ten more steps 🥵 Everyone is gasping here! 😂 Brazilians, French, Canadians, Germans, Chileans… all of us out of breadth.
At last! As you see, the lookout is very small, but you hear many different languages.
On the foreground, a tree 😂. Behind the tree, a building that used to be the Ministry of Defense during the Pinochet regime. It's a cultural center now. On the right, a building intended to look like an old cellphone, was built by a telecom company and is now for sale. Center left is the business district (scornfully called "Sanhattan") with its highest tower, the Gran Torre Santiago. There's an observation deck on its top, and you can visit it! It has great views.
Time to climb down.
Santiago is a large city, but public transportation is great and you can still feel relatively safe if you keep your eyes open, so there's no reason not to enjoy its many interesting places…
…especially in summer, when most santiaguinos have left for the summer holidays.
Thanks for reading!
