The city of Rio de Janeiro opened a tender to create a new line of ferries. The objective is to use the waterway system to connect Tom Jobim International (Galeão, on Governador Island) and Santos Dumont (Center) airports. The notice was released this Thursday (25).
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The service concession will be for 30 years. The planned investment is R$106 million. Of this total, the city of Rio will make a contribution of R$24.27 million. The winner of the bid will be announced on June 6th.
The project foresees the use of seven 100% electric ferries, with capacity to transport between 60 and 100 passengers; fare of R$20 and crossing time between airports of 35 minutes; Opening hours will be daily, from 6am to 11pm.
A station will be built in Marina da Glória, which is close to Santos Dumont and another on Ilha do Governador, close to Galeão. An electric bus will take passengers from airports to stations.
The current waterway system in Rio de Janeiro is under the responsibility of the State government. According to the state transport department, the new line, as it is municipal, could be an initiative of Rio’s city hall.
Read too: State government will regain control of the ferry service
Galeão has been granted to the private sector since 2013, while Santos Dumont is managed by Infraero (Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company).
In justifying the notice, the city of Rio states that, historically, Galeão has always had a greater flow of passengers, a situation that began to change in 2019. One of the reasons cited was the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the city of Rio, from 2021 onwards, “a more dramatic recovery is observed” in the number of passengers at Santos Dumont airport, having surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
“Despite the growth seen at Santos Dumont, the volume was not enough to recover the combined historical movement of the two airports, which can be explained by the economic situation of recent years, with greater travel attractiveness to the states of São Paulo and Minas General. This configuration is also the result of factors such as the transfer of domestic connecting flights from Galeão to Santos Dumont, which, in turn, reduces Galeão’s attractiveness for international flights. In addition to this, Galeão has problems with access, due to the traffic jams that users have to face at peak times to get to and from the airport”, states the city of Rio in the bidding notice.
