{"id":2224,"date":"2016-10-20T00:41:57","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T22:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revistaitransporte.com\/?p=2224"},"modified":"2016-10-24T11:30:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T09:30:58","slug":"the-gateway-to-the-treasure-of-sipan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revistaitransporte.com\/the-gateway-to-the-treasure-of-sipan\/","title":{"rendered":"The gateway to the treasure of Sip\u00e1n"},"content":{"rendered":"

In spring 1987, Peruvian architect Walter Alva attended a local police call. The police had discovered looting activities at an archaeological site from the 2nd century in Sip\u00e1n, 35 kilometres from the city of Chiclayo, in the department of Lambayeque in northern Peru. The remains they found, which include the first intact tomb and grave goods of a Moche leader with his entourage, known today as \u2018the Lord of Sip\u00e1n\u2019, were subsequently compared with discoveries such as Tutankhamen\u2019s tomb in Egypt or even the Machu Picchu complex in the south of the country. Later on in the excavations, another 15 burials were discovered, as well as around 2,000 articles made of gold and silver, valued in some estimates at more than $16 million. Today, they are exhibited in the modern Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sip\u00e1n, which was opened in 2002 under the directive of Alva himself, and attracts 160,000 visitors a year.<\/p>\n

Sip\u00e1n and its treasure, which is one of the jewels of Peruvian and global cultural heritage, transformed Chiclayo\u2019s demographic and socioeconomic reality. Chiclayo, unlike other Peruvian cities, is not of Hispanic but indigenous origin, and was the epicentre of the pre-Hispanic Lambayeque and Moche cultures. With almost 600,000 inhabitants, it is the country\u2019s fourth most populated city, after Lima, Arequipa and Trujillo. Within a distance of under 35 kilometres from the urban centre, there are also other significant archaeological enclaves, like the Valley of the Pyramids in T\u00facume, which is a World Heritage Site, and museums such as that of Sic\u00e1n in Ferre\u00f1afe or the Br\u00fcning Museum in Lambayeque, the oldest in the area, also dedicated to the local pre-Hispanic cultures.<\/p>\n

To the range of local tourist attractions we can add the beaches in the region, such as San Jos\u00e9, Pimentel and Santa Rosa, although this \u2018sun, sea and sand\u2019 tourism is far from having the same impact as the more cultural attractions. Despite this, in recent years, the flow of tourists in the country has reoriented: before the 1990s it was mostly directed towards the centre and the capital, Lima, 770 kilometres away on the roads, and towards the south, with the Machu Picchu complex and the plains of Nazca being the main magnets for domestic and international tourists.<\/p>\n

The central and local governments, as well as the private sector, are aware that the potential for tourist development in Lambayeque and its capital, Chiclayo, has great development margins. The modernisation and enlargement of its airport, which is named after aviator and national hero Jos\u00e9 Qui\u00f1\u00f3nez Gonzales, is an essential step in boosting tourism. The task is in the hands of the manager of the airport, the company Aeropuertos de Per\u00fa, AdP (Airports of Peru), which in 2006 was granted the project by the government of Peru, along with another 11 aerodromes.<\/p>\n

Chiclayo airport opened in 1956 and, though it has been classed as international since 1994, the first regular operations of this type began on 28th June 2016 with the introduction of two weekly Copa Airlines flights to Tocumen Airport in Panama. In 2015, according to figures from the General Directorate for Civil Aviation (DGAC in Spanish), there were 7,813 operations, 431,840 passengers and 731,120 kilograms of air freight recorded.<\/p>\n

AdP aims to increase these figures and boost Chiclayo as the air transport hub for the whole region of northern Peru. The goal is to increase passenger traffic fivefold to 2.1 million by 2031. To this end it has put in place a process of modernisation that comprises overlaying the runway (2,520 metres long and 45 metres wide) and, once feasibility studies are complete, building a new terminal building, as well as remodelling access ways and other improvement works, including a new control tower, firefighting services, hangars, fuel area, freight terminal, etc.<\/p>\n