Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport has completed a modernization plan for its immigration control areas to manage the projected increase in international passengers for the mid-year season and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The project, jointly executed by the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), Migracion Colombia, and the concessionaire Opain, required a combined investment exceeding 22.4 billion pesos (approximately US$5.6 million). The civil works and technological upgrades were carried out without interrupting the terminal’s normal operations.
According to estimates from the ANI and Opain, authorities project that approximately 2.8 million international passengers will pass through the Bogota terminal between June 1 and July 31. The physical and technological improvements aim to optimize internal passenger flow and prevent congestion during peak operating hours.
For passengers, the most notable change lies in the flow of people and the available technology. Those entering Colombia will find an immigration area that has been expanded by 33%, now featuring a total of 62 checkpoints. Colombians and foreign residents registered in the Biomig biometric identification system will be able to skip the lines using self-service kiosks.
There, they can enter their document number and complete iris scan verification in an average of 20 seconds. Staffed counters are reserved for first-time foreign visitors, certain visa holders, and families with minors requiring in-person document checks.
Differential processes of emigration and accessibility
Departing travelers will also notice changes in the emigration zone, where more than 3.8 billion pesos (US$950,000) went toward restructuring the migration checkpoint layout. New Veripax kiosks, 15 in total, let passengers scan their boarding pass barcode to confirm its validity before stepping up to the migration counters.
Foreign visitors use dedicated e-gates where they scan their passport data page and complete verification through facial recognition. Colombian citizens registered with the Biomig pass through the iris-recognition kiosks independently.
In-person service lines operate through 37 direct service modules of Migracion Colombia, dedicated to reviewing security alerts, legal impediments, or exit permits for minors. Opain redesigned the accessible checkpoints to include wider wheelchair aisles, lower counters, and direct-access lanes that bypass the standard queuing area.
Security verification prior to the control module
Beyond the in-person service modules, the modernization of El Dorado included the implementation of the new Joint Strategic Center for Migration Analysis (CECAM). For travelers, this means faster processing at the migration counters and fewer secondary inspections.
The CECAM works behind the scenes as a real-time screening layer. Analysts there cross-reference airline passenger lists against Interpol and other international databases, identifying potential risks, from outstanding warrants to suspected identity fraud, before flagged individuals reach the migration counters.
Milena Jimenez Hernandez, Vice President of Contract Management at ANI, highlighted that the reconfiguration of the infrastructure and the incorporation of the new biometric modules will improve the operational and technological efficiency of migration processes in Colombia, consolidating the Bogota terminal in the face of the projected increase in traffic.