Nearly eight months after Angola formally announced the handover of operations and management of the Aeroporto Internacional António Agostinho Neto (AIAAN) to a consortium led by US-based Corporación América Airports (CAAP) and including Mota-Engil and Bestfly, negotiations between the government and the private partners are continuing with no concrete date set for signing the concession contract.
At the heart of the stalled talks may be the need to revise the initial terms of the deal, given the new airport’s low passenger occupancy rates and its high operating and maintenance costs. The facility was designed to handle approximately 15 million passengers per year, yet recorded only 756,028 passengers in 2025 — still running well below capacity as the transition from the old Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro remains incomplete. Passenger numbers are projected to reach 2.98 million by 2027.
Negotiations between the government and the private consortium are now focused on technical, commercial and operational matters, with particular attention to the fundamentals of Angola’s domestic aviation market — current and projected passenger numbers, flight frequencies and cargo operations — as well as the commercial activities, including retail outlets, restaurants and other services, associated with the new international airport serving the country’s capital.
Amid reports suggesting that the process has stalled because the private operators need time to assess all available information with confidence, the Ministry of Transport pushed back, with a source describing such accounts as ‘absolutely false’ and stating that talks are now in the ‘final stage of contractual negotiation’, in line with the terms set out in the specifications document associated with the international public tender.
Expansão confirmed that there is an intention to close the concession contract swiftly, though no timeline has been provided. The specifications document has not been made public, but available information points to an initial contract of 25 years, renewable for a further 15 years. Under the financial terms, the private operator is expected to pay the state both an award premium and an annual concession fee.
However, several specialists have warned that, at least in the initial phase, the concept of an annual fee bears the hallmarks of wishful thinking, given the significant losses forecast until aerial traffic volumes and commercial space revenues are fully optimised. Analysts place the financial break-even point at around—
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Source: Expansão / Original article: http://expansao.co.ao/angola/detalhe/negociacoes-entre-privados-e-governo-para-gestao-do-novo-aeroporto-ainda-sem-fim-a-vista-73668.html
