Porto Alegre International Airport should remain closed for another 10 or 12 days, says minister

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, will have a meeting in the late afternoon of this Monday, 6th, with representatives of the concessionaire that operates the Porto Alegre airport, Fraport, the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) and of airlines on an action plan to reopen the capital of Rio Grande do Sul for landings and takeoffs, in addition to diverting flights to other regional airports.

According to Costa Filho, of the 12 airports in Rio Grande do Sul, the only one that is closed is Salgado Filho International Airport, in Porto Alegre.

“At this difficult time in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, we are working to speed up the delivery of the airport. The airport will possibly be closed in the next 10 or 12 days, because there is still a lot of water,” Costa Filho told journalists, after participating of an event at the port of Rio de Janeiro. “We have this meeting today to discuss a strategic plan, an investment plan.”

According to him, the objective is for the plan to involve the airlines, the concessionaire responsible for the airport, Anac and everyone else involved.

“Meanwhile, we are putting together a strategic plan for airlines to be able to go to other airports, to be able to help the population. Rio Grande do Sul has 12 airports. We only have one closed, which is the one in the capital of Porto Alegre , but we are trying to advance a strategic air network during this period when the airport is closed”, added Costa Filho.

Earlier, the concessionaire Fraport issued a statement stating that the airport could be closed until May 30, but that there is still no forecast for the resumption of operations. According to Costa Filho, there was noise in the dissemination of information about the airport’s closure period.

“There was a mismatch of information, because Abear (Brazilian Association of Airlines) gave one note, Fraport gave another today. We are going to have this meeting to be able to define a clearer strategic plan. Because it doesn’t make sense, yesterday they were about 10 days and now it has gone up to 30 (deadline for reopening the airport). No, we are going to charge the concessionaire as soon as possible to present a strategic plan to be able to deliver and get the airport back up and running. meeting collectively, to see how the Brazilian state can help and demand resolution from the concessionaire and speed up the delivery of the airport”, declared Costa Filho.

According to him, work is still ongoing to detect the damage caused, therefore, it is not possible to specify the amount needed to recover the damage caused by the water. However, the minister guaranteed that there will be no lack of financial resources or support from the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) in this regard.

“If you look at the photo, we can see that the airport is still full of water. There was a problem with the conveyor belts, with the electrical part, a problem with the runway. We are still detecting all the problems so that we can move forward from there”, he said. “We have already made available around R$ 16 million that the concessionaire wants to move from Fortaleza to the airport, we will authorize it. The more investments the better. There will be no lack of priority for us and the Federal Court of Auditors to help ensure that these works happen.”

Costa Filho said he was at the port of Porto Alegre yesterday, which is also closed, with a water level five meters above normal, with no plans to return to operation.

“At this moment it is not operating. We are working to wait for the water to recede and see how much damage was caused. But yesterday I already spoke with Governor Eduardo Leite, we are going to design an investment for the port. It’s a Port that belongs to the state government, but it is a commitment from the (federal) government for us to help improve the port’s infrastructure”, said the minister.

The minister initially reported that the meeting would take place at 5pm this Monday, in Brasília, but it would have been postponed to 6pm, possibly due to his commitment in Rio de Janeiro.

During the event in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, Costa Filho said that the moment in Rio Grande do Sul is “challenging”, that it was “time to be together” and support the region’s population.

“This is not a flag of the right, of the left, of the center, it is a flag of Brazil”, he spoke at the event.

In Rio, the minister inaugurated the first phase of the expansion and modernization of a 600-meter section of the Gamboa Wharf, in the port of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, with investments of approximately R$150 million. The works will increase the depth of the berths from 8.5 meters to 13.5 meters, allowing the operation of larger ships. On the occasion, PortosRio and the ministry also signed a Term of Intent to formalize technical cooperation with the Iguaçu Technological Park (PTI), for technological solutions to reinforce security and modernize port operations, “especially in combating illicit, in infrastructure projects and decarbonization”. A Term of Intent was also signed to formalize technical cooperation with Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), for market studies and analyzes that guide the growth of the port complex.

According to the minister, an additional R$200 million is planned for the second phase of requalification of Cais da Gamboa.

Costa Filho also mentioned his efforts and conversations with members of the government for the use of resources from the Merchant Marine Fund for investments that help in the reactivation of the naval industry and shipyards in the country.

“We already have R$14 billion reserved so that we can contribute resources from the Merchant Marine Fund to this industry, which is fundamental for Brazil”, he argued. “It is essential that we can help the shipping industry with this Merchant Marine Fund.”