Aena, together with two local partners, has presented the project to expand Cali airport (Colombia), which would involve an investment of €500 million. The Spanish operator is currently the concessionaire of this infrastructure, although the Colombian government is expected to put the airport out to tender next year.
Aena thus opts to continue as operator, while maintaining its 50% stake and consolidating the concession by the equity method. The project would increase the capacity of Cali airport to 16 million passengers a year from the current seven million and the new concession period would be 30 years.
Assessment: Cali airport’s concession expired last February, but the Colombian government then considered an extension in order to be able to extend it. It is therefore logical that Aena, with its knowledge of the infrastructure, should opt to continue in Cali. One of Aena’s objectives is to increase foreign EBITDA to 15% by 2027 from the current level of less than 10%. We think that, given the growth of commercial activity in Spain, to reach that target the operator would have to invest a large part of its free cash flow after dividends, which we consider unlikely. Aena will announce its 9-month 2024 figures on Wednesday 30 October.