Paraguay’s New Airport Plan Remains Under Review as Silvio Pettirossi Continues Operations

Paraguay’s plans for a new central airport remain under review, while the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport is set to continue serving as the country’s main terminal for at least the next four or five years.

Nelson Mendoza, president of the National Civil Aviation Directorate, said the government’s economic team was studying several alternatives and projects. Dinac, however, has not received instructions to execute a new terminal project.

“The instructions we received from Peña are to continue expanding and modernising some of the more critical areas within the terminal,” Mendoza said, referring to President Santiago Peña. He said Silvio Pettirossi would continue operating normally in the short and medium term while the government considers the future of the country’s airport infrastructure.

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The instructions we received from Peña are to continue expanding and modernising some of the more critical areas within the terminal.

The possibility of building a new terminal has been discussed for several years, including during the previous administration. In 2024, the International Civil Aviation Organization delivered an executive design for a proposed Terminal 2 at Silvio Pettirossi. The project was presented as a three-phase development requiring more than $320 million, with infrastructure inspired by Paraguayan architectural traditions and sized for projected growth in air traffic.

Despite having the executive design, the government has yet to decide whether to pursue that proposal or choose another option.

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They are the ones who will make that decision. Surely, when the time comes, they will inform us, but for the next four or five years this will continue to be our terminal.