SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Operations at Salgado Filho International Airport in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, one of the country’s busiest airports, will resume in October after unprecedented flooding in the region caused flight disruptions in May.

The runways and corridors of the airport operated by Fraport were flooded when heavy rains hit Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, whose capital is Porto Alegre, killing more than 180 people.

Due to the damage to the runway and terminals, flights to and from Salgado Filho were temporarily suspended. The government allowed airlines to operate at the nearby Canoas Air Force Base, but at reduced rates because the base did not have the necessary infrastructure.

The government announced late Thursday that flight operations on the Salgado Filho would resume from October 21, initially with 128 daily flights. Airlines were allowed to sell tickets for flights to and from Porto Alegre starting Friday.

The government added that the airport is expected to operate at full capacity from December 16.

“Initially, there will be more than 3,000 flights per month, which will undoubtedly accelerate the recovery of the state’s economy,” said Minister of Ports and Airports Silvio Costa Filho.

Azul, one of Brazil’s largest airlines, said in a statement on Friday that it will be the company with the most available slots when it resumes operations and plans to operate up to 60 flights a day.

The sale of tickets for flights between Porto Alegre and destinations such as Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte has already begun.

“We will offer more than 57,000 seats per week, which is 78 percent of the operation the company had before the floods there,” said Azul’s planning director Andre Mercadante, adding that flights to Canoas Air Force Base would be suspended.

Local grid operators have not yet disclosed the financial impact of the floods in the state. Azul, which will release its second-quarter results next week, said about 10 percent of its network was affected by the floods in May.

Rival LATAM Airlines, whose Brazilian subsidiary is the country’s largest airline by market share, said earlier this week that the floods had caused a $25 million hit to its second-quarter operating profit.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by David Holmes)