Medellín Airport Expansion: Second Runway Cut From CONPES

Reported August 4-5, 2026, by El Colombiano and Minuto30 — figures current as of this writing.

Quick answer: the second runway at José María Córdova (MDE) — the airport every US traveler to Medellín flies into, and the centerpiece of the Medellín airport expansion plan — was left off the outgoing Petro government’s new airport CONPES document, the state economic-policy list that would have guaranteed public funding. Only about COP 164 billion (roughly US$51 million) in minor improvements is currently moving forward, not the roughly COP 22 trillion (about US$6.9 billion) second runway and second terminal envisioned in Aerocivil’s own 30-year master plan, approved just months earlier.

The Medellín airport expansion second runway: what got left out of CONPES

José María Córdova already handles more than 14 million passengers a year, per Aerocivil’s own figures cited in Portafolio’s reporting on the airport’s master plan — and Aerocivil projects that could climb to roughly 42.7 million by 2055. Despite that growth, the airport’s expansion — a second runway and a second terminal — did not make it into CONPES 4205, the national government’s new 2026-2035 airport funding document, approved July 31, 2026 by the Departamento Nacional de Planeación, the agency that publishes and tracks CONPES documents. It prioritizes 13 airport modernization projects nationwide, according to Minuto30. El Tiempo, reporting separately on Barranquilla’s airport being excluded from that same CONPES 4205, names the document and confirms José María Córdova appears in the government’s own diagnostic with a “riesgo alto” (high risk) rating over capacity constraints — the document acknowledges the problem without funding the fix.

Here’s the gap at a glance:

	Figure
Master plan cost (second runway + terminal, through 2055)	COP 22 trillion (~US$6.9 billion)
Public money currently committed	COP 164 billion (~US$51 million)
Current annual passengers	14 million+
Projected 2055 annual passengers	~42.7 million
Status in CONPES 4205 (2026-2035 airport plan)	Excluded

USD figures are approximate, converted at the Banco de la República TRM of COP 3,204.51 per US$1 on August 5, 2026, as reported by Colombia.com; the rate moves daily.

CONPES inclusion matters because it’s the mechanism that commits state budget to a project. Leaving José María Córdova off the list doesn’t cancel the expansion, but it strips away any guarantee of public money behind it — leaving the airport’s current private concessionaire, Airplan, and any future public-private structure to shoulder financing largely alone.

The master plan behind the Medellín airport expansion’s second runway

The exclusion lands only weeks after Aerocivil formally approved an update to the airport’s Plan Maestro with a 30-year horizon. That update came through Resolución 01699 of May 26, 2026, signed by Aerocivil’s then-acting director, as reported by Vivir en El Poblado; Aerocivil’s own resolutions registry is the primary record for its normativa. That plan is Aerocivil’s own roadmap for the airport through 2055. It puts the full buildout, including the second runway, at more than COP 22 trillion, per Portafolio. On timing, Portafolio’s reporting is more specific about money than about a runway completion date: land acquisition, the project’s first step, is slated to begin in the 2025-2030 window, with roughly 29% of total investment assigned to that phase and first-phase construction funded through regulated revenue expected between 2028 and 2032. Aerocivil’s plan does not commit to a hard completion date for the runway itself. The preferred financing structure on paper is a public-private partnership, blending state resources with private capital — the exact combination the CONPES exclusion now leaves in doubt on the public side.

Aerocivil’s stated justification for leaving the airport out of the funding document, per El Colombiano, is technical: because José María Córdova operates under a private concession contract, expansion obligations are framed as falling to the concessionaire rather than the state.

What’s actually moving forward: COP 164 billion

The only public money currently committed is about COP 164 billion in minor adaptations — a fraction of the COP 22 trillion the master plan assumes for the runway and terminal work, according to El Colombiano’s reporting. Nothing in that COP 164 billion tranche builds new runway capacity.

Regional pushback

Alejandro De Bedout, president of Medellín’s city council, called the exclusion political rather than technical. In comments reported by El Colombiano, he said: “Esto es una decisión política, como lo han hecho los últimos 4 años, esa desidia y ese odio por esta región” — roughly, “this is a political decision, as they’ve done for the last four years — that neglect, that hatred toward this region.” He also framed the timing pointedly: “Qué mejor despedida del gobierno de Gustavo Petro, dejando por fuera al aeropuerto José María Córdova del Conpes para los próximos años” — “what a fitting farewell from the Gustavo Petro government, leaving José María Córdova out of the CONPES for the years ahead.” De Bedout pointed to Antioquia’s history of self-financing major infrastructure, like the Metro and the Túnel de Oriente that connects Medellín to the airport, as a pattern the region may have to repeat here, and urged incoming leadership to prioritize the project once in office.

What this means for travelers right now

Nothing changes at the terminal today. Flights, screening, and ground transport to and from Rionegro continue as normal — this is a funding and planning setback, not an operational one. The practical read: MDE’s runway capacity constraints, already tight against 14 million annual passengers, aren’t getting near-term relief from new public financing, and delay risk on the second runway and terminal has gone up, not down.

The story also lands in a specific political window. Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, is sworn in on August 7, 2026, and regional leaders are already pressing the incoming administration to reverse course — see what the transition means for Medellín expats more broadly. Whether the next government revisits CONPES funding for the airport is worth watching if you fly through MDE regularly. Two other MDE headaches are worth tracking alongside it: recurring nighttime closures on the highway link to Medellín, and the heavier entry screening US travelers have encountered there this year.

The bottom line

As of August 5, 2026, José María Córdova’s second runway and second terminal have an approved 30-year master plan and an estimated COP 22 trillion (~US$6.9 billion) price tag. But there’s no guaranteed state funding behind them — only COP 164 billion (~US$51 million) in minor works, and a concession contract Aerocivil says makes the airport ineligible for this round of CONPES money. Treat every figure here as current to this week; CONPES documents and Aerocivil resolutions can be revised, and Antioquia’s political leadership is actively lobbying for exactly that.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Medellín airport second runway cancelled?

No. Exclusion from CONPES 4205 means the second runway lost its guaranteed line of public financing, not its place in Aerocivil’s approved 30-year master plan. The project remains on paper; what’s missing is a committed state funding source, which is why regional leaders are pushing the incoming government to revisit it.

Does this change anything for flights through MDE right now?

No. Flights, security screening, and ground transport at José María Córdova continue as normal. This is a funding and planning setback, not an operational disruption — the practical effect is on how soon runway capacity actually expands, not on today’s travel experience.

Who would pay for the expansion if CONPES doesn’t?

On paper, Aerocivil’s master plan favors a public-private partnership, splitting the cost between state resources and private capital. With the state side now unfunded through this CONPES cycle, financing would fall more heavily on Airplan, the airport’s private concessionaire, and any future public-private deal structured outside CONPES — or on regional self-financing, the path Antioquia used for the Metro and the Túnel de Oriente.