Notice to bid of airports may include integration with HSR

The final version of the notices of concession of the Tom Jobim Airport, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the Confins Airport, in the city of Belo Horizonte, should be published by September and may present further amendments and include provisions on integration with the High Speed Rail (HSR).

The information was confirmed on this Monday by the Director of Regulation and Competition for the Department of Civil Aviation (SAC) of the Presidency, Martha Seillier. According to Martha, new changes in the amounts of grants may occur after the evaluation of the drafts of notices to bid by the Brazilian Court of Audit (TCU), which has up to 45 days to finalize the evaluation.

According to her, the SAC may include in the notices clauses relating to intermodal integration with the HSR project between the cities of Campinas (state of São Paulo), São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The project, still under study by the Empresa Pública de Logística (EPL), will pass though the airport terminals.
There is a convergence of interest. The HSR is important for airports and vice versa. At the time of the first auction, there were not sufficient studies and, today, the EPL has been discussing with the concessionaires of Viracopos and Guarulhos. It is possible that the new notices to bid include some points, he said.

Among the aspects that may be included in the notices of concession, is the income generated from the services offered at the integration station.

Martha also attended this morning the “Airport Logistics Infrastructure – Legal Aspects” Seminar, sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce of Rio de Janeiro (Amcham Rio).

According to the Director of Regulation and Competition for the SAC of the Presidency, the government’s estimate is that the notices to bid be published until the first half of September and the auctions are conducted at the end of October.

Martha did not rule out further changes in the grant value of the terminals. Some environmental and deployment costs were revalued by the government, which resulted in the change of grant, she justified.

On Thursday, August 1, the head of the SAC of the Presidency, Moreira Franco, had announced changes in the amounts of grants, which in Rio rose from $2.04 billion to 2.08 billion. In Belo Horizonte, there was a reduction from $686.4 million to $437.36 million.