Vinci Airports yesterday cut the ribbon on a €160m upgrade to Brazil’s Salvador Bahia Airport, designed to increase its capacity by 50% from 10 to 15 million passengers a year.
The French group took over the running of the airport in January 2018.
Brazil’s infrastructure minister TarcÃsio Freitas attended the handover, with other senior officials.
The project, carried out with Vinci Energies, took 18 months. It included a terminal extension and construction of a new jetty with six boarding gates, as well as refurbishing runways, new ticket counters and reorganised check-in counters.
Vinci also installed a new baggage handling system and expanded the shopping area.
Sustainability played a role: Vinci built a wastewater treatment plant to reuse water, plus a waste sorting centre and a solar farm.
The airport stayed operational throughout the project.
Vinci Airports president Nicolas Notebaert said the project turned the airport "into an efficient and friendly gateway to the Bahia region".Â
He added: "The particularly ambitious environmental aspects of this project are a benchmark in sustainable infrastructure transition."Â
Since the start of the concession, Vinci opened eight new routes including direct flights to Miami, Panama, Salt Island and Santiago de Chile.
More upgrades are planned in the next two years, Vinci said.
Photograph: Vinci Airports took over the running of Brazil’s Salvador Bahia Airport in January 2018 (Photograph courtesy of Vinci Airports)
