The flow of passengers at the three major airports managed by private companies – Guarulhos (SP), Brasília (DF) and Campinas (SP) – grew twice as much in the first half of the growth registered by the state-owned company Infraero. As a result, there were changes in the ranking of the largest terminals. While the development in Guarulhos (SP) remains isolated at the top of the list, the one in Brasília is already the second busiest in the country, surpassing Congonhas (in São Paulo) and Galeão (in Rio).
The airports of Guarulhos and Brasília already had natural growth before the concessions – which accelerated after expansion works, controller strategies and the country's own demand. Adding the three airports, the number of passengers was 11,7% higher in the first half. The number is even higher than in 2013, when the growth of the three together was 8,7% against a year earlier. In Infraero's 63 airports, the variation was 5,9% – this is also an evolution against a year before, when there was a slight decrease, but it continues to be a picture of the distance in relation to private projects.
Brasilia grew 13,3%. “Few businesses in the country are growing at this magnitude. It is the consequence of a strategy that is being consolidated”, says Alysson Paolinelli, president of Inframérica, the concessionaire of the airport in the federal capital. For him, three reasons justify the growth.
The first is infrastructure expansion. The company invested BRL 1,2 billion to inaugurate two piers with 29 boarding bridges – expanding capacity from 16 million to 25 million passengers. The second factor is Brasília's geographical position, in the center of the country, which facilitates the attraction of connecting flights. The third attraction is the cost of fuel. The Federal District reduced from 25% to 12% last year the ICMS rate on aviation kerosene, attracting connection flights. In the State of São Paulo, for example, the tax is higher: 25%.
These reasons led the airport to have 13% more connecting passengers. “It certainly has to do with fuel and investment in infrastructure”, confirms Gol's president, Paulo Kakinoff. The airline turned the federal capital into a “hub”. “For the passenger, the most important thing is the terminal. But for the airline, yard and runway space means efficiency and punctuality,” he says.
In addition, the international area, which moved 13% more people compared to a year before (with Air France and Aerolineas Argentinas flights), made the company anticipate investments, says Paolinelli. The international expansion, originally planned for completion in 2020, will be completed in 2016.
In Guarulhos, the movement of passengers grew 12,9% in the first half. The airport has more than twice as many passengers as second-placed Brasilia. GRU Airport sought to attract larger aircraft and more international companies.
Another airport under concession, Campinas, had growth of 4,7% in the number of passengers. The evolution is lower than that of Infraero's network, mainly due to the fact that the new terminal – originally scheduled for before the World Cup – is not yet ready. “We will start in October to process passengers in the new terminal. It will be fully operational by December”, says Luiz Alberto Küster, president of Aeroportos Brasil Viracopos. Even so, Küster argues that the concessionaire's work brought growth. “We made a series of investments. If we didn't improve the operation, it's possible that we wouldn't have 4,7% more passengers, ”he says.
The executive secretary of the Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SAC), Guilherme Ramalho, says that airport auctions boost the sector's growth. “I have no doubt that it contributed, because the concession system added the competition factor. Airports are competing for new flights”, he says, who still remembers the sector's natural demand, expanding this year. “There was an increase in passengers, with fuller aircraft”, he says.
For him, Infraero will be responsible for seeking growth in the new scenario. “Infraero will have to dedicate itself more and more to being a company that competes to attract more international flights and improve its services”. There will be demand: by 2020, the forecast is that Brazil will double the number of passengers to 200 million.
For the state-owned company to become more robust after “losing” control of some of its main airports to private companies, the government is now seeking a foreign partner for the subsidiary Infraero Serviços. As already reported by Valor, companies such as the German Fraport have expressed interest.
Today, the government does not indicate when it will make new concessions. Instead, it focuses on regional aviation. There are 100 engineering projects being prepared and the expectation is to have works tenders starting this year. “With the projects, we are going to enter the production line”, he says. (Contributed by João José Oliveira)
Source: Valor Econômico
By Fábio Pupo | From Sao Paulo
