Fabio Falkenburger and Pedro Amim       At the end of 2016, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) went forward with the bidding process for the international airports of...

At the end of 2016, the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) went forward with the bidding process for the international airports of Salvador, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, and Fortaleza. The notice of auction and the concession agreement were published on the first of December and the public auction section was scheduled for March 16, 2017.

The final documents brought in significant differences with respect to the drafts originally published in May of 2016 and submitted for public hearing. Among these changes, it is noteworthy the alteration in the payment system which, until then, ANAC had adopted for concessions, and the end of the restriction on the participation of holders of other airport concessions in the same geographic region.

The new payment model appears to be a government response to problems that current airport concessions have presented with respect to the payment of the concession. In this new model, the winning bidder must pay, upon the agreement’s execution, the airport’s minimum value, as defined in the public bidding notice, as well as the amount offered above minimum, which is the factor that will determine the winner. In previous concessions, the amount of the premium surpassed billions of reais, which, if repeated in this round, will mean a major capital injection into the government in the first half of 2017. Previously, the total amount offered by the winner was paid throughout the duration of the concession, and not at the time of execution of the contract.

The operation of airports by new concessionaires should start in the second half of 2017. It is the result of a bidding process that last for almost two years, since the beginning of the feasibility studies until the future execution of the concession agreement.