A Brazil tale of two airport concessions

As President Michel Temer’s administration continues to seek ways to repair a gaping fiscal deficit, the government has revived an airport concession programme begun by Temer’s predecessor, Dilma Rousseff. In March this year four airports were tendered out; a further 14 are due to follow next year. With no interstate passenger rail network, air travel is vital in this continent-sized country. But that is no guarantee that every concession will succeed. In 2012, Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek international airport in Brasília and Viracopos international airport in Campinas, São Paulo state, were tendered out — with very different results. The former has flourished, while Viracopos has struggled and its concessionaires want to give up the contract. The Car Wash graft investigation into contracts at state-run oil company Petrobras hit concession partners at both airports. But while recession cut into traffic at Viracopos, its impact on Brasília was less severe because the capital city had established itself as a regional hub. Orlando Lima Júnior, a professor of logistics and transport at the State University of Campinas, says the success of a concession depends on “the conditions of the market it is in, but also the model and the financing”.<br/>Story has more details.<br/>