Galeão cannot be solved with a silver bullet, says secretary – 04/24/2023 – Market

The national secretary of Civil Aviation, Juliano Noman, said this Monday (24th) that there is no “silver bullet” to solve the imbalance between Galeão and Santos Dumont airports, in Rio de Janeiro.

According to the secretary, the Ministry of Ports and Airports is looking for different alternatives to face the situation, which generates pressure on the federal government by political and business leaders in Rio.

The reason for the pressure is the emptying of Galeão international airport in recent years, while Santos Dumont is undergoing expansion in flights after the pandemic crisis.

“An issue like this is not going to have a silver bullet. It would be great if it did. We think there are several issues that involve decisions and side effects, externalities, as we say,” said Noman.

The statement took place at an event held by the newspapers O Globo and Extra this Monday. The secretary participated in a panel alongside the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro (PL), and the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes (PSD).

This Tuesday (25), Castro and Paes will have a meeting about the Rio de Janeiro terminals with the Minister of Ports and Airports, Márcio França (PSB).

“We believe that a good solution comes with more than one initiative. That’s what we’re putting in place, and that’s what the minister should point out and look for tomorrow at the meeting, so that we can try to come up with an action plan”, he indicated. Noman.

Castro and Paes, however, demanded quick decisions from the federal government, starting from this Tuesday’s agenda. The mayor praised the dialogue with France, but said that resolving the deadlock at Rio’s airports is an “urgent issue”.

Paes insisted on the idea that it is necessary to establish restrictions at Santos Dumont. In this sense, he defended the reduction of the airport’s annual capacity to 6 million passengers.

“We need concrete measures. That’s what we’re talking about here,” he said.

Castro was in the same vein. “This multi-airport vision, in practice, is to take from those who have a lot and send it to those who have little”, pointed out the governor.

“As Eduardo Paes said, this is an urgent matter. Even if we have a test period, to see if it works, we need decisions for yesterday”, he added.

In the view of Castro and Paes, the emptying of Galeão is mainly associated with the lack of coordination with Santos Dumont.

For them, issues such as the distance from Galeão to the central region of Rio (about 15 km) and the fear of insecurity in access roads to the terminal are not the main points under discussion.

Santos Dumont, in the center of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, saw a jump in passenger traffic in 2022, and local leaders believe that the airport operates above its capacity.

A Sheet showed in February that the terminal received 10.17 million travelers in 2022, between departures and arrivals. It was the highest number in a historical series with data available since 2012 on the Infraero website, responsible for managing Santos Dumont.

The issue is that the airport’s annual capacity was estimated at 9.9 million passengers by the state-owned company. That is, the movement registered last year was above the reference measure.

Focused on domestic aviation, Santos Dumont is close to companies located in the center of Rio and tourist attractions in the south zone.

Galeão, in turn, is located on Ilha do Governador, in the north zone, and has a larger infrastructure. It also plays an important role in the transportation of cargo in the state.

Access to the international airport is via routes such as the Red Line, but users often complain about a feeling of insecurity and traffic jams in the region.

“We can spend a long time talking about the problems of the city of Rio de Janeiro, and they exist, no one is contesting it, but that is not the reason for what happens to Galeão. What happens to Galeão is disrespect for the national entity, of the federal government, which regulates this system”, said Paes this Monday.

Responsible for managing the international airport, RIOgaleão announced in February 2022 a request to return the concession. The company associated the measure with economic difficulties exacerbated by the pandemic.

As a result, the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government began planning a joint auction for Galeão and Santos Dumont. By that logic, the same investor group could manage the two terminals.

In November, RIOgaleão, which is controlled by Changi, from Singapore, signed an amendment with reservations to proceed with the return.

At the time, Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) indicated that, upon signing the document, the concessionaire would declare “irrevocable and irreversible adhesion to the rebidding”.

With the change of government, the debate gained new contours. In January, França signaled the interest of the Lula administration and the company itself in putting together an agreement for the permanence of the current concessionaire. The construction of this agreement is seen with reservations in the legal environment.

This Monday, the national secretary of Civil Aviation, Juliano Noman, also indicated that the government works for Infraero to play a leading role in regional aviation.

This project is designed after the state company lost the administration of large airports with the granting concessions to the private sector in recent years.

“What the federal government is doing is directing and organizing Infraero so that it plays a relevant role in regional aviation. So that we can, with the resources received from the concessions of the big airports, finance the construction and also the operation in less provided with infrastructure,” said Noman.