Santos Dumont will have reduced operation, says Márcio França – 07/04/2023 – Market

The Minister of Ports and Airports, Márcio França (PSB), said this Friday (7) that the Santos Dumont airport, in the center of Rio de Janeiro, will have a reduction in the number of passengers this year. According to France, the number of travelers will be below 10 million in 2023.

The promise represents a nod from the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government to politicians and businessmen in Rio.

Local leaders defend that Santos Dumont has its operation reduced so that more flights are directed to the international airport of Galeão, in the north zone of the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

Galeão has gone through an emptying process in recent years, and the resumption of demand after the impacts of the pandemic has been slower than at Santos Dumont.

“Right away, we determined that the operation of Santos Dumont airport this year will have a reduction in relation to the number registered in 2022, and will be below 10 million passengers in 2023”, said França on his Twitter profile.

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.

To the surprise of Rio’s leaders, Infraero’s website now informs that Santos Dumont’s capacity is 15.3 million, 54.5% above the previous 9.9 million. The change provoked a reaction in Rio.

Mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD) used social media this Friday to criticize Infraero. Paes said he trusts the Lula government to resolve the deadlock at local airports, but demanded restrictions “for yesterday” at Santos Dumont. The mayor supported the PT in the 2022 elections.

“Santos Dumont Airport has become the only source of revenue for the state-owned company Infraero! In other words: the more flights, the more revenue. In addition, it helps to make Galeão unfeasible. When Galeão is made unfeasible, the private operator leaves the concession and who takes over? Infraero! With This means that the state-owned company gains one more airport to call its own and earns more revenue. And Rio be damned! Simple as that”, attacked Paes.

A Sheet questioned Infraero about the change in the reported capacity of Santos Dumont, but had no response until the publication of this text.

After the announcement made by Márcio França, Paes returned to Twitter to praise the minister for his promise to reduce airport operations.

França said that “any decision” will be communicated directly to Paes and Governor Cláudio Castro (PL).

“We will not hold a complex and extremely important debate like this through “interlocutors” or via social networks,” said the minister.

According to him, the National Secretariat of Civil Aviation is preparing studies with possible actions to increase the number of passengers on Galeão.

“The possibilities will be presented to Governor Cláudio Castro and Mayor Eduardo Paes on the 24th, when a meeting between the three of us is scheduled”, added França. This year, a working group was created to analyze the scenario of Rio’s terminals.

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 and has a larger infrastructure. Access to the international airport, however, is via routes such as the Red Line, a frequent location for traffic jams and cases of urban violence.

Responsible for Galeão, 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”.

However, 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.