Government announces up to 116 new flights to regional airports in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina | Economy

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, announced this Thursday (9) another 116 weekly flights to regional airports in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, due to the closure of Salgado Filho airport, in the capital Porto Alegre.

With the new flights, the number of passengers that can be transported will be increased by 13 thousand. Today, capacity at regional airports is 7,000.

According to the minister, flights will be available for purchase on the companies’ website starting this Friday (10). “Some regional flights have already started at bases where they already operate and from tomorrow these flights, from the interior of the state, will be available so that tickets can now be purchased”, he said.

According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Airlines (Abear), Jurema Monteiro, the four airlines VoePass, Azul, Latam and Gol will operate at the airports. There is still no information about the origin of the flights, which depends on the companies.

The airports with increased flights are:

• Caxias do Sul (RS): with 25 new weekly flights;
• Santo Ângelo (RS): 2 new weekly flights;
• Passo Fundo (RS):16 new weekly flights;
• Pellets (RS): 5 new weekly flights;
• Santa Maria (RS): 2 new weekly flights;
• Uruguaiana (RS): 3 new weekly flights.
• Canoas (RS): 35 new weekly and 5 daily flights;
• Florianópolis (SC): 21new weekly flights;
• Jaguaruna (SC): 7 new weekly flights.

The Canoas base is operated by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB). Due to the closure of Porto Alegre airport, the base will begin to receive commercial flights, being operated by Fraport — which holds the concession for Salgado Filho airport, in the capital.

According to the minister, the concessionaire will organize commercial transport logistics and only then should it receive authorized flight capacity.

SC airports will have more extra flights to serve Rio Grande do Sul

Porto Alegre airport has been closed since the 3rd due to flooding caused by the rising waters of Lake Guaíba. On Monday (5), the Brazilian Association of Airlines (Abear) announced the suspension of operations for an indefinite period.

Abear, the Ministry of Ports and Airports and the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) had been working on structuring a new airline network, with an increase in the frequency of flights to regional airports in the state and also to Santa Catarina.

According to data from Anac, there are 47 public airports in Rio Grande do Sul. Abear’s member airlines have operations in six of them, in the interior of the state:

• Santa Maria
• Santo Angelo
• Uruguayan
• Caxias do Sul
• Deep step
• Pellets