It has a transit lounge that was formerly used by passengers continuing to or returning from Papeete, Tahiti, which was serviced by LATAM until June 2020.

Scheduled services from the Chilean mainland started in 1967 with a monthly Douglas DC-6B propliner flight operated by LAN-Chile that took nine hours,[6] using a runway extended and paved for the use as a U.S.

[6][8] Nonstop service to Papeete had been added earlier during the late 1960s using a DC-6B and the frequency then doubled to twice-weekly with LAN-Chile providing direct connecting 707 service once a week between Easter Island and Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid in Europe via its Santiago hub.

[9][10] By 1975, LAN-Chile had extended its Tahiti route flown once a week with a 707 to Nadi, Fiji (NAN).

The project undertaken by NASA to lengthen the runway was completed in 1987 and enabled wide-bodied jets to use the airport, which further boosted tourism to the island.