Fraport Brasil has taken over operations at the airports of Fortaleza and Porto Alegre, having won the concessions in March 2017 during a public auction to privatise Brazil’s airports.
The operational takeover follows the completion of the joint transition period with Infraero, the state-owned authority that previously ran both airports.
The wholly owned subsidiary of Fraport plans to invest 600 million Brazilian real ($184 million) at each airport for infrastructure improvement and development projects during the concession periods.
Fraport executive board chairman, Dr Stefan Schulte says: “We are proud to welcome these two ‘best-located’ gateways to the Fraport global portfolio. With Porto Alegre and Fortaleza, we now have three airports in South America and a total of 30 airports where we are active worldwide.
Our mandate is to enhance the passenger experience while strengthening the role of these airports for their respective stakeholders and regions.”
Fraport Brasil chief executive officer, Andreea Pal says: “We strongly believe in the potential of Fortaleza and Porto Alegre airports. We are focusing our efforts on raising the attractiveness of these two airports through ongoing improvements in infrastructure and operational processes.”
The concession for Fortaleza’s Pinto Martins International Airport in the federal state of Ceara will run for 30 years, and Fraport Brasil will operate Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho International Airport in Rio Grande do Sul for 25 years.
