The information was provided by the Minister of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, during the launch of the public tender to hire the new airport operator. The minister said that interest was demonstrated before the launch of the competition and now, with the completion of this act, he hopes that they will compete.
“We are waiting for it to happen. So start receiving proposals. It is obvious that competitors also need time to analyze what we are putting forward as conditions for the concession, which is reflected in the specifications and in the competition program”, he said.
For the competition, which ends on February 16, 2024, competitors must pay an access fee of US$75,000 and have in their portfolio responsibility for the operation of at least one international airport with a traffic volume of , at least 10 million passengers per year, between 2018 and 2022.
Also part of the requirements is the operation of an airport for at least three years, financial availability in the minimum amount of 150 million dollars, and in the case of a consortium, the operator must have a minimum stake of 45 percent .
According to the Minister of Transport, the launch of the public tender demonstrates the viability of the airport and the possibility of collecting revenue for the State.
“We are talking about an infrastructure that can create direct benefits for the State. But we also have to look at what the indirect benefits of the State may be in terms of the set of other activities that can be enhanced, due to the fact that we have an infrastructure of this scale and which will potentially be managed by a major international entity” , he pointed out.
The official reaffirmed that Dr. Agostinho Neto International Airport is ready to receive cargo flights and that the work now involves attracting cargo planes.
“The work that is now being done, by what we designated as the temporary operator of Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport, is to manage, on the one hand, to attract these aircraft cargo operators to Luanda. This is in coordination with an order that will soon be issued by the Ministry of Transport, where we will direct all cargo planes to the new airport”, he said.
Ricardo de Abreu explained that the Catumbela airport, in the province of Benguela, is a priority and, eventually, in the first quarter of 2024, it will have the certificate, resulting from the works in courses to obtain this document. The rehabilitation of Huíla and Namibe airports will follow, with the same aim, as the new ones under construction are already complying with certification standards.
“We are building two new airports, Mbanza Congo and Cabinda, which are already following a methodology for certification”, highlighted the minister, indicating that the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) is responsible for certification.
The minister soon announced a competition for the concession of the Moçamedês Railway, with the contribution of a multidisciplinary team and specialized entities to prepare the competition procedures.
