MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Private operators take over Brazil's Fortaleza and Porto Alegre airports

Fraport AG won the FOR and POA concessions in March 2017 during a public auction of four airports under Brazil’s third round of airport privatizations.

Fraport Brasil (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fraport AG) started operations at Fortaleza’s Pinto Martins International Airport (FOR) and Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho International Airport (POA).

 The operational takeover follows the completion of the required joint transition period with Infraero, the state-owned authority that previously ran both airports. Fraport AG won the FOR and POA concessions in March 2017 during a public auction of four airports under Brazil’s third round of airport privatizations.

Some BRL 600 million is expected to be invested at each airport for infrastructure improvement and development projects during the corresponding concession periods.
Dr. Stefan Schulte, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman, emphasized: “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.”

Andreea Pal, CEO of Fraport Brasil, explained: “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 Fraport Brasil Fortaleza operating company has been established to run the FOR concession in the federal state of Ceará for 30 years, while Fraport Brasil Porto Alegre has been created for the 25-year POA concession in Rio Grande du Sul. Both airports are located about 3,200 km by air from one another along the Atlantic seaboard of Brazil.