BRAZIL. Brazil’s Secretary of Civil Aviation (SAC) will next year auction rights for construction and management of a new airport for Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The SAC announced the plan last Friday in order to alleviate pressure on Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho International Airport, which is approaching its capacity of 15.3 million passenger movements a year.
Salgado Filho is in a built-up part of this city of 1.5 million, and has space neither to expand its existing runway nor to add a second runway.
“According to the Secretary’s analysis, the most suitable form of providing the financial requirements for the airport will be to adopt the model of private concession,” an SAC statement read.
Minister of Civil Aviation Wellington Moreira Franco confirmed to local media that the airport project would be allocated by auction in 2015, in a process similar to other airport privatisations since 2012, most recently at Rio Galeão and Confins.
The SAC and the government of Rio Grande do Sul will now embark on a series of studies to assess the economic, financial, technical and environmental feasibility of development in a 21sq km area at Portão, 50 km from central Porto Alegre.
The state government aims to award a contract for the feasibility studies by December 2014.
 |
Salgado Filho International Airport, which is approaching capacity, will remain in service once the new airport opens |
