Justice denies request by owner of Galeão on airport re-bidding

The concessionaire RIOgaleão, operator of Galeão airport, in Rio, had an injunction against Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) denied this Friday (11) by the Federal Court.

The case involves the process of returning the airport concession, requested in February by the company, which is controlled by Changi, from Singapore.

On Wednesday (9), RIOgaleão had sued the Federal Court for disagreeing with part of the proposed amendment approved by the board of Anac.

This amendment governs the company’s commitments with the airport until the arrival of a new operator, in addition to defining the basis for the indemnity to be paid, taking into account the granting and the investments made by the concessionaire.

The problem that emerges is the increasingly tight deadline without reaching a consensus. According to the established plan, the concessionaire has until Monday (14) to sign the amendment.

Without the signature, the return request loses its effect, which would hinder the re-bidding of the carioca terminal.

On Tuesday (8), Anac’s board approved the amendment proposal based on the grant payment schedule signed in 2014, the initial year of the Galeão concession.

That was the point contested by the company. In the concessionaire’s view, the agency should consider an agreement signed later, in 2017. At the time, the operator was authorized to reschedule the installment schedule.

In practice, by anticipating part of the payment to the government at the time, the company was able to postpone the following transfers, which would only be paid again in 2023. The procedure generated a momentary relief for the concessionaire’s cashiers.

With the return to the original schedule, the fear for the company is to go out of business with the damages impacted.

In the view of Anac’s board, in case RIOgaleão’s request is met, a gap could be created for other companies to seek renegotiation of the schedule and, later, re-bidding. This point of view was taken into account in this Friday’s court decision.

Without the signature of the amendment, and the cancellation of the Galeão delivery order, the concessionaire would pay around R$ 1 billion in grants in 2023.

The point is that the airport has gone through a process of reduced demand in recent years. In February, RIOgaleão associated the return request to the period of economic crisis in Brazil aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Consulted by the report this Friday, the company said that “it is evaluating internally the measures that will be taken after the decision of the Court”.

The injunction requested by the company was denied by the 13th Federal Civil Court of the SJDF (Judicial Section of the Federal District).

The Ministry of Infrastructure’s plan is to negotiate Galeão jointly with Santos Dumont airport, which is also located in Rio and is currently managed by Infraero.