AA2000 eyes new airport concessions

Argentine airport concessionaire Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) has set its sights on the airports serving the cities of Bahía Blanca and Trelew, local press quoted AA2000 president Ernesto Gutiérrez as saying. The airports are two of 18 in the country that fall out of the national airport system concessions package of 32 airports awarded to AA2000 in 1998 for 30 years. State entities or other companies operate the 18. In the case of Bahía Blanca, as well as Trelew that London Supply operates, AA2000 has presented municipal and provincial authorities with an improvement plan in the lead up to planned calls for bids to operate the airports. AA2000 also has its eye on international airport concession processes, such as the one planned for Colombian capital Bogotá's El Dorado airport, according to reports. OTHER AIRPORTS In related news, Gutiérrez said works will begin in one month to build a new B terminal at Ezeiza international airport that serves the city of Buenos Aires. Over 600mn pesos (US$208mn) will be spent on the terminal that will take two years to complete. Further, modernization works totaling 60mn pesos are underway at the airports serving the cities of Mendoza, Tucumán and Río Grande. Regarding the renegotiation of its concession contract, Gutiérrez said that talks with the government have gone well, and that they expect to complete the process before year-end. Corporación America Sudamericana (89%), Societa Per Azioni Esercizi Aeroportuali (10%) and RIVA (1%) make up AA2000, which also has a stake in the Cerealsur consortium that picked up a 30-year concession in 2003 to operate Uruguayan capital Montevideo's Carrasco international airport.