Operations at Manaus International Airport handed over to VINCI Airports

Credit: VINCI Airports

VINCI Airports has taken over the operation of Manaus International Airport (MAO), under a 30-year concession contract awarded by Brazilian civil aviation in April 2021. The effective co-operation between VINCI Airports and Infraero, a public airport infrastructure company, has enabled a smooth transition. Six other airports in the region: Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Boa Vista, Cruzeiro do Sul, Tabatinga, and Tefé, will join VINCI Airports’ portfolio in February 2022. In total, these seven airports welcomed 4.7 million passengers in 2019.

Third cargo airport in Brazil, Manaus airport is a pillar of the economic and social development of the Amazon. VINCI Airports will work to develop the cargo activity of this platform by optimising its operation.

Building on the good environmental performance of Salvador airport, which has become ‘the most sustainable airport’ in Brazil since it took over operations in 2018, VINCI Airports will also deploy its environmental action plan in the Amazon. The objective is to reduce the CO₂ emissions of airports,  notably 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 their residual CO₂ emissions, while helping to protect the Amazon rainforest and biodiversity.

Following the integration of Manaus airport and the six other airports in the region, VINCI Airports will operate 53 airports around the world, including eight airports in Brazil. It thus becomes the country’s leading international airport concessionaire in terms of the number of airports managed and employs nearly 500 people in the country.

“VINCI Airports is proud to be the new operator of Manaus airport and six other new airports in the northern block,” commented Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports. “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”.