Brazil Privatizes three Airports for 24,5 Billion Reais
São Paulo’s main international airport (Guarulhos), Viracopos (100 km from São Paulo) and Brasilia’s airport (capital of the country) were all sold for 24.5 billion Reais on February 06th. The amount paid for Guarulhos (16.2 Billion Reais) was almost 4 billion Reais higher than the second-highest bidder and 12.8 billion Reais above the minimum required by the government.
The winner of the bid got 51% of a public-private partnership with Infraero, the Brazilian current operator of 66 airports in the country. The partners will have to pay the amounts in 20 years, and also forward the government 10% of the generated turnover. The winners will also have to invest on improving the terminals, which are not in good conditions nowadays. Great part of this investment should be made before the 2014 World Cup.
The three airports encompass 30% of Brazil’s air passengers. The numbers of travelers have doubled in a decade and the growth is expected to continue. It seems a nice deal for the winners, but attention needs to be addressed to the transaction, as the high prices paid for the airports cannot be passed to passengers. The Minister of Aviation, Wagner Bittencourt, said that there are plans to auction two more airports soon.