Eurnekian wins Guayaquil tender

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Corporacion America, led by the Argentinean entrepeneur, is to take over management of Simon Bolivar International airport next month after bidding highest in the tender for the 15-year contract

Corporacion America, controlled by Eduardo Eurnekian, principal shareholder in Argentinian airport authority Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 (AA2000) has won the 15-year contract to manage and operate Simon Bolivar International airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Corporacion America and its Italian partners SEA will pay 50.25% of their gross earnings to the Autoridad Aeroportuaria de Guayaquil (AAG), beating off rival bids of 35.57% from AENA/Hidalgo & Hidalgo and 29.12% from AGUNSA/Odebrecht. Corporacion America and AAG will sign the concession contract before the end of February and the new operator will take over the concession in August.

Over the next three years Corporacion America will invest more than $70m in renovations in the terminal building. The company expects that traffic will increase from the current level of 1.7m passengers to over 3m during that time thanks to route expansion.

In addition to the 32 airports operated by AA2000 in Argentina, the Eurnekian group of companies also operates airports in Armenia and Uruguay. Sources close to the company have indicated that their expansion plans include presenting a detailed offer to operate Bogota's Eldorado Airport as well as making a bid to manage Paraguay's airport system.