Bloomberg — The Covid-19 pandemic caused severe losses for Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil’s largest airport, but the federal government has relieved the concessionaire’s cash flow, with the National Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SAC) approving a R$ 799.7 million ($140.7 million) discount from the amount to be paid for the airport’s 2022 concession, the SAC announced Thursday.
“The measures approved by Anac and SAC occurred in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a form of economic-financial compensation for the GRU Airport concession contract,” the concessionaire said.
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GRU Airport will also use the R$ 799.7 million to compensate part of the fixed quota for 2021.
On November 30, the board of civil aviation agency ANAC approved the request for financial compensation submitted by the concessionaire to offset the losses, but the approval by SAC, headed by Tarcísio de Freitas, had remained pending.
At the time, Anac said that the amount (R$ 799.7 million) corresponded to the losses suffered by the airport due to the financial impact of the drop in demand for air transportation as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and especially for international flights, and which continued to impact Guarulhos Airport due to the closure of borders and the sanitary measures adopted to curb the spread of the virus.
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According to Anac, the approved compensation is in compliance with the concession contract and seeks to ensure “the maintenance of investments and the continuity of service to society, as well as demonstrating to potential investors in the seventh round of concessions that the agency values legal certainty and regulatory stability, as observed in each step of the bidding process”.
The seventh round of aviation auctions, scheduled for 2022, foresees the concession of 16 airports - among them, Congonhas (São Paulo) and Santos Dumont (Rio de Janeiro). On Thursday, the federal government approved a relaunch of the tender of São Gonçalo do Amarante airport in Rio Grande do Norte, with R$ 308.9 million ($54.2 million) in investments forecast.
In recovery
Traffic at Guarulhos Airport has seen a recovery in the second half of the year with the resumption of services by airlines following the the restrictions imposed by the pandemic on the sector in the first half of the year. Currently, 28 domestic and international carriers operate from the airport.
In October, according to the latest data available, 2.48 million passengers passed through the airport, an increase of 49.7% over the past year, and which is a 32.9% increase if compared with the same month in 2019, pre-pandemic. The airport’s Cargo Terminal (TECA) leads the country’s airports in freight volume, with 29,000 tons of cargo transported during October.
Starting January 5, nine airlines will resume international flights through Terminal 2 of São Paulo International Airport, and which are Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Europa, Aeroméxico, Amaszonas, Avianca, Boliviana de Aviación, Gol, Sky, and TAAG, with 5,000 passengers of international flights expected to use the airport per day, in addition to domestic passengers of local carriers.
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