By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil may soon put Rio de Janeiro’s Santos Dumont Airport up for concession, Port and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said on Monday, signaling a shift toward full private management of the country’s largest terminals.
Speaking at BTG Pactual’s Macro Day in São Paulo, Costa Filho questioned the current role of Infraero, the state-run airport operator. “I think Infraero should be much more an agent for works than for managing airports, such as Santos Dumont,” he said, according to Valor Econômico. The minister added: “We may soon discuss the possibility of a large concession at Santos Dumont, so that 100% of Brazil’s major airports are managed by international concessionaires.”
The announcement came during a panel alongside Transport Minister Renan Filho, in which Costa Filho also highlighted Latam Airlines Group’s (LTM:NYSE) order for as many as 74 Embraer (EMBR3:BVMF) E195-E2 jets. “Today Latam announced the purchase of up to 74 new aircraft that will strengthen Brazilian aviation, creating new destinations, new routes, expanding our network with South America. This should also happen with Gol (GOLL4:BVMF) and Azul (AZUL4:BVMF),” he said.
Costa Filho pointed out that Embraer’s presence in the domestic fleet remains modest compared to global peers. “While in the United States 50% of aviation is carried out with Boeing (BA:NYSE) aircraft and in France Airbus (AIR:EPA) accounts for 48%, in Brazil Embraer still represents 12%,” he said. He also stressed that aviation is a major driver of both business and leisure tourism. “For every four tourists arriving in a city, one job is created,” he noted. in a city, one job is created,” he noted.