France’s Vinci Airports has taken over the operation of Manaus International Airport in Brazil, under a 30-year concession contract.
Previously operated by public airport infrastructure company Infraero, Manaus, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, is one of seven local airports to join the Vinci Airports portfolio in February. Between them, Manaus, Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Boa Vista, Cruzeiro do Sul, Tabatinga and Tefé welcomed 7 million passengers in 2019, pre-pandemic.
Manaus is the third largest cargo airport in Brazil and Vinci Airports confirmed that it will work to develop this aspect of the business, optimising its operation.
Vinci-run Salvador Airport is the most sustainable airport in Brazil, and the operator said that it will extend its environmental action plan across the Amazonian airports. The objective is to reduce their CO2 emissions – primarily through the construction of a solar farm – and to improve their water and waste management. Finally, a forest carbon sink programme will be implemented there, to sequester the airports’ residual CO2 emissions.
The addition of these seven airports brings the number of airports Vinci operates globally to 53. Eight of them are in Brazil, making it the country's leading international airport concessionaire in terms of the number of airports managed. Vinci Airports employs nearly 500 people in Brazil.
Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and president of Vinci Airports, said, “Vinci Airports is proud to be the new operator of Manaus airport and six other new airports in the northern block. In this region of Brazil, largely made up of forests and rivers, air transport is essential for the mobility of people and the supply chain.
“We will mobilise our expertise from an operational and environmental standpoint, with a view to sustainable development. We are renewing our partnership with Brazil to make this concession a new success, building on the very positive results we have obtained in Salvador de Bahia”.
Image courtesy of Jose Zamith, CC BY 3.0 BR via Wikimedia Commons
