The Brazilian government has announced that the flood-affected Porto Alegre airport will reopen to commercial flights from October 21.
Minister of Ports and Airports Silvio Costa Filho has given airlines permission to resume ticket sales to the airport, with the operator expecting full capacity to be restored from December 16.
Salgado Filho Airport in Porto Alegre was hit by extensive flooding as a result of the devastating storms that hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul in late April.
As of May 3, flights were suspended.
The government says the resumption of operations will be “gradual”. Starting with 128 aircraft movements over a 14-hour period, the civil aviation authority ANAC will decide on the initial slot allocation for airlines wishing to resume operations.
Costa Filho says the measure will “without a doubt accelerate the recovery of the state’s economy.”
Porto Alegre airport operator Fraport Brasil said the runway was underwater for 23 days – an “unprecedented” incident that required a “thorough analysis” to determine the extent of the water damage.
The 3,200m runway had only been in operation for two years, following the completion of a program to extend the old 2,280m runway in April 2022.
Initial cleanup and assessment work after the flooding revealed that more than 2,000 m of the runway had to be partially rehabilitated. While the concrete substructure was intact, the upper layers were “damaged” according to the operator and about 45 cm of asphalt had to be removed.
A 500 m long section of the new runway was less affected by the impact, although the asphalt there was damaged to a depth of 15 cm.
Fraport Brasil reports that a second phase of work, scheduled for completion in October, will restore the areas necessary for the partial resumption of operations, including 1,300 m of runway and large parts of the apron and taxiways.
The third phase, scheduled to begin in October, will focus on areas not affected by the initial resumption of air traffic.
Fraport Brasil estimates the cost of restoration at R$700 million (US$127 million).
