AENA wins another group of Brazilian airports in the latest concession round

The Brazilian airport concession procedure, now a decade old, staggered into its seventh iteration with São Paulo's Congonhas Airport, the country's second busiest, finally included. But that inclusion was with 10 other much smaller ones; what was described by one Brazilian analyst as a 'Frankenstein's Monster.'

That didn't stop AENA lodging an uncontested bid 230% over the asking price - mainly for an airport it will be very difficult to expand.

Separately, a very small 'North Block' of two airports found a concessionaire at a smaller premium, around 120%, while two/GA business airports in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro went at base price.

With more than 90% of air traffic now accounted for by concessioned airports and only Rio's Santos Dumont airport left of any significance, the eighth round - scheduled for 2023 and packaging Santos Dumont with a reconcession of the city's Galeão international airport brought about by the original concessionaire handing it back - may be the last one.