The sale of airline tickets to and from Porto Alegre is prohibited in all sales channels, including travel agencies. The determination is valid until the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) reevaluates the measure.
The airport in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul is closed indefinitely due to flooding in the terminal, affecting more than 490,000 passengers.
In a latest decision,the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulator National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) has suspended the sale of airline tickets to or from Salgado Filho Airport, in Porto Alegre, whose Runway is still submerged in flood water.
As per ANAC, passengers with tickets already issued must be prioritized.
“Airlines must identify and prioritize contact with passengers who have a pending return leg, whether to Rio Grande do Sul or from the state to other units of the Federation, so that they can preferentially define their reaccommodations”, says the note released on Tuesday night (13).
Anac also determined a change in the transport contract, ensuring that there will be no additional cost for passengers who purchased tickets to Rio Grande do Sul. In other words, there will be no charge for rescheduling flights within a period of up to one year from the date original. The refund or credit for canceling flights with a changed final destination will be full, with no fees charged.
Another Anac measure was the extension for 90 days of the validity of qualifications, certificates, authorizations and other documents of aviation professionals who are helping to rescue and support flood victims. The idea is to prevent humanitarian work from being interrupted by possible delays in renewing documents.
The Salgado Filho airport concessionaire, Fraport, released a statement denying that operations will only resume in September, as reported by some press vehicles. The airport has been closed since May 6, after being flooded by the rain that fell and flooded Porto Alegre and practically all of Rio Grande do Sul.
With the new rainfall that hit the State from May 10th to 13th, the situation became worse, the water level rose again and covered some of the aircraft that were there.
Fraport highlighted that there is no forecast for the resumption of operations at the airport . Faced with the floods, the federal government already announced an emergency air network with 116 flights to the interior of the state.
In total, 6 smaller airports and the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) air base in Canoas increased operations, in addition to 2 terminals in the south of Santa Catarina.
In its statement this Tuesday, Latam confirmed the interruption of the sale of tickets to Porto Alegre and informed that it has flights to Florianópolis (SC), Caxias do Sul (RS) or Jaguaruna (SC) as an alternative for passengers who were affected by the cancellation of flights to the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
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