2024-12-11 19:03:00
One of the largest renovations planned in the short and medium term among American airports is launched, Congonhas, in Sao Paulo (Brazil), which has the Spanish operator Aena as its promoter. The budget for the works is 2,400 million reais (around 380 million euros) and the works were entrusted to the construction company HTB, of German origin and with four decades of presence in the Brazilian market.
The president of Aena, Maurici Lucena, participated this afternoon (Spanish time) in Sao Paulo in the foundation stone laying ceremony, which serves as the final touch to the competition. The manager underlined that the expansion and total renovation of the terminal is “the most important project in the history of Aena outside Spain, of extraordinary scope and technical complexity”. The investment includes the installation of new boarding bridges and a baggage handling system.
Congonhas will double its current size and gain 20,000 square meters of retail space. The infrastructure is located in the urban environment of Sao Paulo, the largest financial center in Latin America, and operates the route with the highest number of flights, the one connecting with Rio de Janeiro.
The selected builder, HTB, has accumulated experience in airport works in Brazil, having recently completed improvement works at 15 sites. The company will begin work next January for Aena.
Graphic approach to what will be the main departure hall of Congonhas.Provided by Aena Brazil.
Dedicated to domestic traffic in Brazil, it is the second airport by traffic volume in the country, after Guarulhos, which also serves international flights in the city of Sao Paulo. Aena took over management of Congonhas in 2022, reaching a total of 17 assets in Brazil and a market share measured in travelers of 20%. The planned commitment for Sao Paulo airport reaches a third of the investment commitments of the Spanish public company in Brazil, for a total of 6.4 billion reais.
Before awarding the contract to HTB, Aena had awarded projects at a dozen of its locations in Brazil for 2 billion reais. Its entry into the Latin American market took place five years ago with the first assignment of six airports, and last year 40 million travelers have already passed through its facilities, 10% of the traffic served by Aena in the world.
Aena’s fifth resource
Congon served 22.1 million users in 2023 (even lower than 2019’s 22.8 million), a volume that places it as Aena’s fifth largest airport. The works will generate 10,000 jobs and the challenge is to complete them, around June 2028, with minimal impact on flights.
The opening ceremony of the expansion, which was attended by the Minister of Ports and Airports of Brazil, Silvio Costa Filho, accompanied by various authorities from the local aviation sector and the State of Sao Paulo, takes place 14 months after the handover of the reins of the infrastructure at Aena under concession regime.
The company highlighted that 10% of Brazil’s GDP is generated within a 15 kilometer radius around the airport, which counts the largest companies based in Brazil among its users. Since October 2023, the operator has made short-haul investments, but aimed at improving the traveler experience, while increasing flight punctuality.
“Sustainability is one of the major commitments that Aena has made in recent years. We are aware of Brazil’s environmental richness and, therefore, the development of sustainable policies is an essential task”, underlined Maurici Lucena in his speech.
Aena signed a first concession contract in Brazil on 9 October 2019, with which it took over the reins of the group of six airports in the Northeast (ANB). These are Recife, Maceió, João Pessoa, Aracaju, Juazeiro do Norte and Campina Grande. In this group of assets, investments made amount to 1.9 billion reais in technological, safety or operational capacity improvements.
Already in the last quarter of 2023, the group added to its first concession that of the Block of Eleven Brazilian Airports (BOAB), in Northeast Brazil. These infrastructures, won in an auction in which he ended up bidding alone, to the surprise of the market and Aena itself, are those of Uberlândia, Uberaba, Montes Claros, Campo Grande, Ponta Porã, Corumbá, Carajás, Santarém, Marabá , Altamira and the aforementioned Congonhas airport. The total investment in BOAB in the coming years will reach 4.5 billion Brazilian reais.
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