AENA wins concession to operate 11 Brazilian airports

Through subsidiary, Aena Desarrollo Internacional, Aena has been awarded the concession to operate and develop São Paulo’s Congonhas Airport and 10 other gateways across Brazil.

The concession, which is initially for 30 years with the option of a five year extension, covers 11 gateways across São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Pará states, which between them handled 26.8 million passengers in 2019.

Aena’s bid of €468 million proved enough to win the public auction for the airports, with the global airport operator’s initial outlay for the concession rising to €780 million. It has also agreed to invest at least another €800 million on enhancing the airports.

Congonhas Airport, the second busiest in terms of passenger traffic in Brazil, is located in the State of São Paulo, which covers an area of 248,219 square kilometres – about half the size of Spain – has a population is 46.3 million.

Talking about Congonhas, Aena chairman and CEO, Maurici Lucena, noted that the company’s priority was to “create value for its public and private shareholders and employees”.

“Despite the hard times we have been through due to COVID-19, we are convinced that Aena’s internationalisation is a guarantee for the future of the company,” he said, noting that domestic traffic in Brazil has fully recovered from the pandemic.

In addition to Congonhas, Aena has been awarded the concession to run Campo Grande Airport; Ten. Cel. Aviador César Bombonato Airport; Maestro Wilson Fonseca Airport;  João Corrêa da Rocha Airport; Mário Ribeiro Airport; Carajás Airport; Altamira Airport; Mario de Almeida Franco Airport; Corumbá Airport; and Ponta Porã International Airport.

The network of gateways will make Aena the biggest private airport operator in Brazil.