BRAZIL. Aena, through its subsidiary Aena Desarrollo Internacional, has been awarded the contract to manage Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport following a public auction at the São Paulo Stock Exchange.
The bid to run the main airport serving the Brazilian city until May 2039 was worth BRL2,900 million (US$552 million). It reflects a 100% buyout of the shares of the airport’s concessionaire company.
Part of the transaction will be paid out of Aena’s own funds, with the remainder financed through a loan from a local financial institution, without recourse to the parent company.
The purchase is subject to the formalisation of the sale and purchase agreement with the current shareholders, once regulatory approvals and other conditions have been met. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.
Rio de Janeiro Galeão International Airport is Brazil’s third-busiest airport by passenger volume, with 17.8 million passengers served in 2025, of which 5.7 million were international.
Aena said the airport has sufficient capacity to handle expected traffic for the remainder of the concession period, with no contractual obligation for further capital expenditure.
Aena Chairman and CEO Maurici Lucena said, “Like all of Aena’s operations, this one strictly adheres to the fundamental principle of creating value for its shareholders. Aena Brasil is, moreover, a clear example of Aena’s ability to generate value-adding synergies, as this brings the total number of airports successfully operating as part of the network to 18, thereby contributing to the development of air transport in the country.”
With the transaction, Aena will operate the largest network of concessioned airports in Brazil. Under the Aena Brasil brand, the Spanish airport group has been managing six airports in the north-east of the country since 2020 and a further 11 in the states of São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Pará since 2022.
Key assets include São Paulo Congonhas Airport – the country’s second largest – and Recife Airport in the northeast, with Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport now added. ✈
