Paraguay's Asunción airport upgrade to be awarded in February

The project to upgrade Paraguay's Silvio Pettirossi international airport in capital Asunción is expected to be awarded in February, according to Emiliano Fernández, undersecretary of the technical planning department.

The Paraguayan government received two valid technical and economic bids on December 23 from two consortiums; the French-Paraguayan Vinci Airports-Tocsa consortium and Spain-Chile's Sacyr-Agunsa.

The country's public works and communications ministry (MOPC) will review the two bids during January, after which the ministry will award the contract, Fernández was reported as saying by local daily La Nación.

A third bid, submitted by the Cedicor-Caminos Vecinales del Uruguay consortium was disqualified after failing to submit all technical requirements.

The 30-year contract involves a total investment of US$149mn and includes construction of a second, 40,000m2 passenger terminal, rehabilitation work on the airfield and overall airport improvements.

The project is the second to be awarded under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme in Paraguay, after the US$507mn Rutas 2 y 7highway expansion project awarded in October to the Sacyr-Mota Engil-Ocho A consortium.