MetraTech Deployed at Guarulhos International GRU Airport in Brazil to Modernize Billing and Settlement for Busiest Airport in
January 23, 2013 09:00 ET
MetraTech Deployed at Guarulhos International GRU Airport in Brazil to Modernize Billing and Settlement for Busiest Airport in Latin America
Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (ANAC) Certifies MetraNet as the New Airport Billing System for Use by GRU Airport Concessionaire
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL--(Marketwire - Jan 23, 2013) - [ MetraTech ], the leading provider of agreements-based billing (ABB™) and compensation solutions, announced the deployment of its MetraNet® billing platform at [ São Paulo International Airport in Guarulhos, Brazil ]. MetraTech was selected in August by GRU Airport's new concessionaire as the billing platform for the airport and the system went live on November 15th, just in time to handle a new single-day passenger record on the eve of a long weekend with a national holiday and the Brazilian F1 Grand Prix.
Investments in Brazil's airports have struggled to keep pace with air travel that has doubled in the past decade as Latin America's fastest growing economy has risen. In preparation for an expected influx of more than 500,000 visitors during the month long World Cup 2014 soccer tournament and Summer Olympics in 2016, the Brazilian Government determined that private sector involvement would accelerate the necessary investments to the airports. In the resulting auction in February 2012, management of Guarulhos, Latin America's busiest airport, was awarded to the Invepar-ACSA Consortium.
The [ Invepar-ACSA consortium ] is led by Invepar - Investimentos e Participações em Infraestrutura SA, which owns 90 percent of the consortium and belongs to employee pension funds from companies including banks Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal, as well as oil company Petrobras - Petróleo Brasileiro SA and OAS Investimentos. ACSA - Airport Company South Africa owns 10 percent of the consortium.
With a winning bid of 16.2 billion reais ($7.8 billion USD) Invepar-ACSA consortium won the rights to operate São Paulo's international hub for 20 years. The Brazilian government raised a total of 24.5 billion reais ($14 billion USD) through the award of licenses to private companies to operate three of the country's busiest airports, aimed at having the facilities upgraded and ready for the World Cup, and the 2016 Olympic Games swiftly thereafter.
On June 14th of 2012 a 20-year concession contract was signed between Invepar-ACSA consortium and the Brazilian Government, giving rise to the Guarulhos International Airport Concessionaire, in which Invepar-ACSA has 51 percent participation and Infraero (Airport Infrastructure Brazilian Company) has 49 percent participation.
After its winning bid, it was important for the new GRU operator to begin collecting revenue and rolling out new services at GRU. The Brazilian civil aviation regulatory agency, ANAC, officially certified the MetraNet solution for airport billing and Invepar-ACSA obtained permission to transition operations and administration from Infraero to the new GRU Airport Concessionaire.
"This is a significant achievement for GRU Airport as we formally take over operations for São Paulo International Airport," said Marcus Abreu, CFO at GRU Airport. "We've found in MetraNet a solution that can not only [ monetize ] aviation services, but also all other services such as mall and properties which we expect to increase following a trend we see in other airports around the world."
In 2011 the GRU Airport was ranked 1st in terms of transported passengers, aircraft operations, and cargo handled in Brazil. São Paulo is the busiest passenger airport in Latin America with approximately 34 million passengers (2012) and over 340,000 tons of cargo (2012). MetraNet is automating processes and financial models for greater accuracy and transparency to GRU Airport and its airline and concession partners.
These financial models involve complex calculations based on Airport Use Agreements and contracts. Billing calculations require dynamic charging of a diverse set of services including landing/take-off, terminal usage, enplanement/deplanement, flight support, utilities, ground handling, passenger facility charges and retail leases.
"The ability of MetraNet to be easily configured to support all of our business models in record time made it possible for this milestone to occur," said Luiz Ritzmann, CIO at GRU Airport. "The ease of use and high visibility also helped us to quickly make any adjustments necessary to comply with regulatory rules during certification."
[ MetraNet ] is the only [ billing and compensation ] platform built on an extensible metadata-driven architecture that makes it simple for customers to model services, introduce services and pricing plans, and to change them in rapid response to market demands. Billing and multi-party settlement functionality such as commissioning, revenue sharing and other B2x compensation schemes are supported on the same powerful platform. Partnerships with 3rd parties can be handled with accuracy, visibility and control for all.
Scott Swartz, founder and chief executive officer of MetraTech Corp., said, "We are extremely proud that GRU selected MetraNet as its billing solution and they have been a terrific partner. With the upcoming World Cup 2014 and Summer Olympics in 2016, we are excited to be working with GRU to modernize airport billing and grow new services at the airport."
About Guarulhos International Airport Concessionaire S.A.
The Guarulhos International Airport Concessionaire S.A., known by the brand name GRU Airport - International São Paulo Airport was incorporated by GRUPAR who signed on June 14th of 2012 a 20-year concession contract of the international airport of São Paulo with the Brazilian Government.
Grupar is comprised of the Invepar Group, a reference in the South American transportation infrastructure segment; ACSA (Airports Company South Africa), which operates some of the fastest growing airports of the world, such as the Johannesburg airport (South Africa) and Bombay (India); and Infraero, with extensive experience in operating 63 domestic and international airports throughout Brazil.
About MetraTech
MetraTech Corp. offers an innovative approach for monetizing relationships with customers, partners, and suppliers. Organizations are empowered to embrace change through a unique agreements-based billing and compensation solution that models and supports fluid, personalized, multi-party agreements. We automate business processes and business models to address rapidly changing or sophisticated business models. Our products are deployed globally, and our customers use MetraTech to innovatively create and securely collect revenue, compensate partners and manage their customer lifecycle in 12 languages, 28 currencies and 90 countries. Customers include Arkadin, Concur (
For more information, please visit [ www.metratech.com ] and [ www.metanga.com ], or contact us at [ marketing@metratech.com ].