Costa Rica’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, through ICAO, has awarded Ineco the project for the expansion and rehabilitation of the airfields of the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport. This is Costa Rica’s second largest airport Costa Rica and its international traffic has not stopped growing in recent years –exceeding one million passengers in 2016, 30% more than in 2015– thanks to its strategic position and tourist attractions.

The awarded contract will cover the definition of the construction project for the runway expansion and the rehabilitation of the airfields. The work will be completed in a year and will include a variety of additional studies, from the development of a new traffic forecast and the topographic and geotechnical campaigns, to the specifications for the execution of the works.

We open this issue with the news of the contract awarded recently for the design of the new terminal at Schiphol Airport, a project that will make us a participant in the expansion of one of the most important airports in the world. This excellent news joins the announcements of the recent contracts to execute the master plan for the Dammam Airport and the expansion and rehabilitation of the Liberia airport. These international contracts reflect Ineco’s strength and competitiveness in the aeronautical sector, and are complemented by articles covering the projects and construction supervision in two airports in Cape Verde, and the feature article on the aeronautical safety studies.

In the railway sector, the cover story highlights another large project that has already been completed: the high-speed line that our experts have designed in Egypt to connect Cairo, Luxor and Hurghada. More than 1,000 kilometres in length, it is the longest section of high-speed track ever built by Ineco, only recently surpassed by the 1,500 kilometres of another similar project, the high- speed line between New Delhi and Kolkata.

The latest international contracts awarded to Ineco reflect our strength and competitiveness in the aeronautical sector

Projects such as the Indian project and this most recent project in Egypt, are enormous railway challenges that clearly demonstrate the capacity and expertise of the teams, made up of more than one hundred people who contributed to make them a reality. In total, the projects required two years of work which, in order to ensure the success of the study, involved various Egyptian public entities responsible for the implementation of the project, led by the Ministry of Transport and the National Railways of Egypt.

This study by Ineco, with the support of Adif and Renfe, exports the experience and know-how of Spanish engineering and industry in the design, construction and maintenance of high-speed lines. Experience that has pushed us to continue our participation in the development of high-performance networks, such as HS2 in the UK, in which Ineco has been awarded a new contract, projects for the installation of the ERTMS in Denmark, the railway integration works in the historic city of León, and the renovation of the San Bernardo station in Seville, all of which are described in this issue.

Lastly, we cap off this issue with a new section titled In Closing, in which our professionals tell us about the latest developments in their respective areas. In this case, we are starting with Rocío Viñas, our deputy director general of Cooperation and Innovation, who discusses the Spanish Hyperloop project. A closing that is aimed at sharing new developments in the sector with our readers.