Hugo is a partner in McKinsey’s Lisbon office and coleads the development of our work in Angola. He leads our Travel, Transport & Logistics Practice in Portugal as well as in Africa, where he has worked with several governments and major companies to strengthen transportation.

As a particular focus of his work, Hugo supports countries in defining growth strategies for their national aviation sectors, most notably in Africa. A frequent speaker at major forums on African aviation, Hugo advises governments and airlines on market expansion strategies, performance improvement, and development of pan-African partnerships to boost global competitiveness.

In the aviation sector, Hugo has developed expertise in several areas, including corporate strategy, M&A and merger management, large-scale transformations and turnarounds, ground handling, and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul).

Hugo has designed strategic plans for several airlines and airport managers; evaluated several M&A deals across multiple geographies; defined and helped implement the full merger process for two airlines in record time; and helped shape capital strategies and privatization processes.

He has also designed and implemented a fully-fledged four-year turnaround plan for a national mainline carrier in Africa (and its subsidiaries), developed a turnaround plan for an Indian airline, and implemented a performance transformation for an African airport manager.

In the rail sector, Hugo designed the restructuring plan for a European infrastructure manager; supported a passenger-rail operator in evaluating optimization opportunities; and worked with another rail operator to redefine its strategy.