Salgado Filho International Airport, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, resumed receiving commercial flights on Monday after being closed for 167 days due to a massive flood caused by rains on May 3.
At 8:03 am (local time), an Airbus A320neo from Azul Linhas Aéreas landed at the airport, followed by two Boeing 737s from Gol. LATAM resumed operations at the site that morning.
The flooding affected everything from the runway and taxi area to the airport terminals. The commercial aircraft managed to leave Salgado Filho before it became impossible to take off, but a Boeing 727 cargo plane and executive aircraft were not so lucky.
During the period in which the airport was closed, Brazilian airlines relocated flights to airports in the region, in addition to temporarily using a Brazilian Air Force air base.
International flights starting December 16
In the initial phase, only domestic flights will arrive at the airport, with an initial capacity of 71 daily flights. The number is expected to increase to 122 departures starting in November. The full resumption of activities, including international flights, is scheduled for December 16.
LATAM will initially have 10 daily domestic flights, connecting Porto Alegre to Sao Paulo (Congonhas and Guarulhos) and the country’s capital, Brasília.
Next week, starting on the 27th, there will be 17 flights, including Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro. Finally, in January 2025, the airline will resume operating two nonstop international flights, Porto Alegre-Santiago (Chile) and Porto Alegre-Lima (Peru).
The concessionaire Fraport, responsible for the airport’s operations, carried out a complete cleaning of the airport structure and repaving of the runway, aprons and other areas where aircraft circulate.
The lighting and beacon systems had to be replaced. In the passenger terminal, the IT systems, electricity supply and baggage claim were restored.
