Summary Porto Alegre's airport to re-open on Oct. 21, 2024 The airport will operate at full capacity by Dec 21st Many domestic & international routes were impacted by the closure. Porto Alegre–Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) will re-open on October 21st, 2024, more than five months after it closed due to severe flood damage.
According to Reuters , the Brazilian Government said that operations will initially be limited to 128 flights per day, but by December 21st, the facility will be able to operate once again at full capacity. The deadly storms hit the Rio Grande do Sul region at the end of April, with more than 180 people killed in what was the worst flooding to hit Brazil in over 80 years. Both the airport's terminal and its runway were badly damaged as a result.
The runway had only re-opened in 2022, following an extension, allowing it to handle larger aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330. The airport formally suspended all operations on May 3rd, and in the meantime, a small number of flights were allowed to operate from the nearby Canoas Air Force Base, albeit on a much-reduced scale due to a lack of infrastructure. Local bus networks and Port Alegre's metro system also shut down, although they have since resumed services.
More than 7 million passengers last year Last year Porto Alegre–Salgado Filho International Airport processed 7.48 million passengers, which was a big increase from its pandemic-era low of 3.48 million in 2020, but still some way off the airport's all-time high of 8.
48 million in 2014. It remains very unlikely the airport will beat this figure in 2024, given that it will have been closed for almost half of the year. Much of Porto Alegre–Salgado Filho International Airport's traffic is domestic, and the facility is connected to most major cities throughout Brazil.
The following international routes also operated prior to the closure: Buenos Aires (AEP) - Aerolíneas Argentinas Lima (LIM) - LATAM Peru Lisbon (LIS) - TAP Air Portugal Montevideo (MVD) - Azul Linhas Aéreas Panama City (PTY) - Copa Airlines Santiago de Chile (SCL) - LATAM Chile and Sky Airline. Airlines heavily impacted by the airport's closure LATAM Airlines was among the worst affected by the airport's closure, and has since revealed that the flooding hit its operating income by $25 million in Q2 2024. The carrier has already stated that it intends to resume its previous services, and most airlines have already started ticket sales.
While some airlines are yet to confirm their intentions, the likelihood is that carriers will operate very similar flight schedules as before the closure. For Azul Linhas Aéreas, Rio Grande do Sul represented around 10% of its total operations, so the reopening of the state's largest airport will be good news for the airline, as well as for local travelers. The carrier's Head of Planning, Andre Mercadante, said, "We will be offering more than 57,000 seats a week, which represents 78% of the operation that the company had there before the floods.
" The biggest carrier has more than 70 flights per week in August..
