Government models Santos Dumont concession to have no effect on Galeão

The assistant executive secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Felipe Queiroz, said this Monday (14) that the concession model for Santos Dumont airport is being designed so as not to cause a predatory effect on the international terminal at Galeão, also in Rio de January.

The government intends to grant Santos Dumont and the Congonhas airport in São Paulo next year, but it still needs analysis and approval from the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).

According to Queiroz, the government hopes to obtain the guarantee to publish the auction notice by April. “Galeão has enormous value for Rio and for the country. It is an impressive asset as a runway and terminal. We are very sensitive and attentive to any measure that could degrade Galeão’s value,” he told reporters at an event organized by the Instituto de Estudos Jurídicos Aplicados (Ieja).

“We received a demand from the political and commercial sector and from the Galeão concessionaire to reevaluate the form of the auction and eventually adopt compensatory measures,” he added.

One of the compensations being studied for Galeão, which is located in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, would be to build a subway connection to Santos Dumont, which is located in the central region of the city.

The fear of many segments is that the concession of Santos Dumont, followed by possible permissions for longer and international flights, could cause an emptying of Galeão.

Galeão was awarded to the private sector in 2013, with a bid of 19 billion reais from a consortium that included Odebrecht, now Novonor, an amount four times greater than that defined in the public notice. The contract runs until 2039.

Currently, the concessionaire RIOgaleão is controlled by Changi Airports, from Singapore, which has 51%, while Infraero has the remaining 49%, according to information supplied by the company.

The concessionaire invested 2 billion reais to bring the capacity of Galeão airport to 37 million passengers a year, but with the country’s political and economic instability and, later, with the pandemic, the airport operates well below its capacity limit.

“The guidance of (Infrastructure) Minister Tarcísio de Freitas and President Jair Bolsonaro is to study the issue in a way that does not generate predatory and ruinous imbalances…at the same time, improving the quality of service at Santos Dumont, promoting healthy competitiveness” , said Queiroz.

“We are looking for the best point… we know that a bad contract is now a problem for 30 years”, he added.

Asked whether the planned flexibility for flights to Santos Dumont could be reassessed, the secretary stated that “maybe this is a central point of discussion: not to reduce the supply of infrastructure and flights to Santos Dumont”, said Queiroz. “The idea of ​​taking an asset for concession is to make the most of the value that the asset can generate, but there are measures being studied,” he added.