Congonhas Airport is considered the most attractive for investors

The new round of airport auctions is an important step towards the modernization of Brazilian airports. The analysis is by EY’s executive director for the government and infrastructure sector, Gustavo Gusmao. On June 6, Brazil’s Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC, in Portuguese) approved the public notice and the project for the seventh airport auction, which will grant 15 terminals to the private sector. Among them, Congonhas Airport, in Sao Paulo, one of the busiest in the country and considered one of the “crown jewels”. “In a period of 10 years, Brazil took a turn towards the modernization of its airports and demonstrated that the participation of the private sector was fundamental in this process. (…) Brazil’s airport concession program can be considered a world reference for the transformation it had in the sector in such a short period of time”, said Gusmao. The auction is scheduled for August 18 at the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. It will be divided into three blocks: SP, MS, PA, MG, North Block II, and General Aviation. The first two, in addition to Congonhas, include the airports of Campo Grande, MS, Corumbá, MS, Ponta Pora, MS, Santarem, PA, Maraba, PA, Caraja, PA, Altamira, PA, Uberlandia, MG, Uberaba, MG, and Montes Claros, MG. In the General Aviation block are Campo de Marte, in Sao Paulo; and Jacarepagua, in Rio de Janeiro. According to ANAC, the 7th round concessions cover 15.8% of domestic passengers in the Brazilian air transport market. In 2019, there were more than 30 million departures and arrivals at these locations. Santos Dumont Airport, in Rio, would enter this round, but the auction for the terminal ended up being excluded. “Initially, Santos Dumont Airport, RJ, would also be a part of the 7th concession round, but in compliance with the guidelines of the National Civil Aviation Secretariat (SAC, in Portuguese) of the Ministry of Infrastructure, this terminal was excluded from the current bidding process, and the configuration of the blocks was reformulated”, says a note from ANAC. The new auction is also a challenge to the model of airport concessions in the country, as some terminals previously auctioned ended up being returned by the concessionaires. This was the case of Viracopos, SP, Galeao, RJ, and Sao Gonçalo do Amarante, RN. “These cases show that the first airports granted paid a higher price for the learning curve of modeling airport concession contracts. (…) At the same time, it is true that the first investors in airport concessions in Brazil made riskier bets in their bids, and not all of them were successful in implementing their business models”, adds Gusmao, who also states that a point that remains critical in these contracts is the divergent understanding of macroeconomic risk, which has a strong effect on demand. “While investors understand that this risk should be absorbed by the granting authority, ANAC understands that economic instability is inherent to the enterprise. However, there seems to be a consensus that the effects of the pandemic are likely to be rebalanced in favor of the concessionaire”, he explains. – https://aeroin.net/aeroporto-de-congonhas-e-considerado-o-mais-atrativo-para-os-investidores/