The Brazilian government privatized three airports on Monday, including the country's largest at Sao Paulo, at a $14 billion auction ahead of the 2014 World Cup. Three different consortiums of domestic and foreign operators won concessions to upgrade the terminals at the airports, which will see an influx of tens of thousands of tourists during the World Cup. Invepar-CSA consortium won the 20-year concession for the Sao Paulo airport with a bid of $9.4 billion, Aeroportos Brasil won the 30-year concession for the terminal at Viracopos airport in Campinas with a $2.27 billion bid, and the Inframerica Aeroportos consortium won the 25-year concession for the terminal at Brasilia's President Juscelino Kubitschek airport with an offer of $2.6 billion. The three airports together account for 30 percent of passenger traffic in Brazil. There are 70 public airports in the county, many of which are in need of renovations ahead of the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics that will be held in Rio de Janeiro. The number of passengers traveling through Brazil is expected to jump 40 percent over the next four years.
