Emergency status lets the city bypass bid process to resurface airport runway

Cuenca Mayor Marcelo Cabrera has declared a state of emergency to fast-track repaving of Cuenca’s Mariscal La Mar Airport. The move allows the city to negotiate with contractors without going through a public bidding process.

Aircraft await drier conditions to take off. (El Tiempo)

“We must get the airport back to full operation as soon as possible,” Cabrera said. “This is a genuine emergency.”

The emergency was precipitated by an April 28 accident in which a Tame Airlines jet skidded off the runway during wet weather as it attempted to land. Following the accident, which closed the airport for a week, the Directorate of Civil Aviation restricted take-offs and landings at the airport to dry weather conditions, citing a lack of traction on the runway.

To date, almost a third of scheduled flights in and out of the airport have been cancelled as a result of the order.

According to the Cuenca Airport Corporation, the public company that operates the airport, resurfacing will cost about $2.4 million and take four to six weeks to complete. No dates have yet been announced for the work.