Porto Alegre's Flood Damaged Salgado Filho Airport Will Remain Closed For Rest Of The Year For Restoration.

• Closed a month ago due to flooding, Salgado Filho International Airport will remain closed for next six months.
• The forecast was passed on during an inspection with representatives of the federal government this Monday morning (3rd June).
• A full inspection will still be carried out, but the initial reading is that, in an optimistic scenario, the reopening could take place of December. 
• Rice farmers, in a demonstration of solidarity and competence, dried the runway at Salgado Filho airport.
• At a cost of R$300 million, Salgado Filho's resumption of complete operations should only occur in the year 2025.

Salgado Filho airport , located in Porto Alegre , is only expected to reopen in 2025, and the federal government is expected to pay for much of the reconstruction of the site.

More than a month after the interruption of operations for an indefinite period, Salgado Filho international airport, Rio Grande do Sul (RS) still shows signs of the destruction caused by the flooding of Lake Guaíba.

Photo: Rafa Neddermeyer/Agência Brasil

The CEO of the concessionaire Fraport Airport, Andreea Pal, informed that the airport will not be able to reopen before the second half of December. The December deadline would be possible if works on site began in June.

Minister Paulo Pimenta, Extraordinary Secretary of Support for Reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul, together with technicians from the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), also participated in the inspection.

Porto Alegre airport has been closed since first week of May, when the waters of the Guaíba took over the runway and the first floor of the building.

The water that flooded the runway on May 3 rose quickly and, in four days, reached 65 centimeters on the pavement. Since then, the airport has been closed, and the deadline, though looks optimistic, is a tough in the prevailing conditions.

The Damage To The Facility

• The ground floor which houses the national and international arrival operations, recheck-in and public bodies such as the Federal Revenue, National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), Civil Police and Federal Police (PF), remains flood affected.
• Car rental companies and businesses such as Starbucks, Cameron bookstore, Rei do Pão de Queijo and NBA Park were also affected.
• The waiting benches are dirty with debris such as mud, leaves and small twigs, and the well-lit arrivals hall was dark.
• The floor also contains baggage carousel equipment, elevators and escalators, all damaged by the immersion.

• The airport runway, submerged for more than 20 days, is now almost completely dry and but needs a lot of cleaning before an inspection can be done to decide on the necessary restoration work.
• Sweeping work began on Monday (3), to remove dirt accumulated in the grooves.
• In the fields beside the track, water is still accumulated, and the vegetation that was green is burnt or darkened.

Before the closure, Salgado Filho carried out an average of 142 daily trips, both national and international. Since then, more than 4,200 flights have been canceled.

According to Fraport, the forecast is that resuming operations would cost R$300 million, with R$45 million just for the acquisition of equipment , much of which requires importing.

During the assessment, it was found that it will be necessary to repair the electrical network and carry out renovations on the track, which suffered damage. According to the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, the asphalt on the runway is crumbling.

The terminal administrator hired the company that will clean the runway. Work is scheduled to begin this Monday. As a result, it is already being considered behind the scenes that the Union will have to rebuild the entire airport runway, which should take a significant amount of time.

"Starting this week, all the cleaning and survey work will begin with greater force. It is a priority to monitor, so that, in the shortest possible time, this airport can function", said Minister Pimenta.

Canoas Air Base- The Alternative Airport

While Salgado Filho does not operate again, the Canoas Air Base, in the metropolitan region of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, has been receiving commercial flights on an emergency basis since May 27th.

Additionally, the Ministry of Ports and Airports announced that from June 10th the number of commercial flights at this same military terminal will double, increasing to ten departures and ten arrivals daily.

Operator Fraport Brasil created a remote terminal at ParkShopping Canoas. From there, passengers are boarded and disembarked on the ground floor of the mall. The terminal has space for check-in, baggage drop-off and passenger boarding.

Historic Floods in Rio Grande do Sul (RS)

According to the latest report from Civil Defense, the tragedy caused by the rains that devastate Rio Grande do Sul has already left 172 people dead. In total, 806 were injured and 42 were missing.

More than 2 million people were affected, with 579,000 homeless and 37,000 in shelters. Of the 497 municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, 475 were affected by the climate tragedy.

Related Article....