Brasília – This Thursday (15th), the Official Gazette of Brazil published, in an extra edition, the document with the rules for concession of the airports of Cumbica, in Guarulhos; Viracopos, in Campinas; and Juscelino Kubitschek, in Brasília. The publication also contains a resolution of the National Privatization Council which approves the concession of the airports. The auction will be held on February 6, 2012, in the São Paulo Stock Exchange, simultaneously. Enterprises will be allowed to bid for the three airports, but will only be allowed to hold the concession for one of them.
In practice, the document forces the bidding consortia to have a foreign partner. In other words, it requires the bidder, or one of the members of the group, to have a minimum of 5 years of experience in managing airports with a turnover of at least 5 million passengers per year.
In Brazil, only the state-owned Infraero meets the requirement, and it will not participate in the auction, because it already has a 49% stake guaranteed in the future administration, whoever wins will be a foreign company.
Concession periods are different for each airport: 30 years for Campinas, 25 years for Brasília and 20 years for Guarulhos. The minimum bids are different as well: 3.4 billion reals (US$ 2.6 billion) for Guarulhos, 1.5 billion reals (US$ 1.1 billion) for Campinas and 582 million for Brasília (US$ 447 million).
Contribution values will be paid on an annual basis by the auction winners. The sum will be allocated, via the National Civil Aviation Fund, to civil aviation and airport infrastructure development and fostering projects. Thus, the federal government aims to ensure that the remaining Brazilian airports, in particular the regional aviation system, will also benefit from the private funds.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
