Rio sees Santos Dumont taking off and Galeão far from pre-crisis

Rio de Janeiro sees a mismatch in the attempt to resume flights at the two main airports in the state after the lifting of restrictions in the pandemic.

While demand soars to levels similar to those of the pre-crisis in Santos Dumont, the movement in the Galleon remains far from the one verified before Covid-19, indicate data from Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency).

Business leaders report concern about the situation and want the opening of a new round of debates with the federal government to discuss the modeling of the joint concession of carioca airports.

The Ministry of Infrastructure is talking about holding the auction of the two terminals in the third quarter of 2023, as part of the eighth round of airport concessions.

Analysts, however, consider the deadline to be tight, even more so with the presidential elections in the middle of the road and the political uncertainty that is looming for next year.

In the first half of 2022, Santos Dumont received almost 4.4 million paid passengers, between departures and arrivals, according to Anac data.

The amount is equivalent to 97.6% of the number recorded in the same period in 2019 (4.5 million), before the pandemic.

Focused on domestic aviation, Santos Dumont has a smaller structure than Galeão, which also receives international routes and plays an important role in cargo logistics in Rio.

Galeão, in turn, totaled 2.8 million paid passengers from January to June this year. The amount corresponds to only 44.3% (less than half) of the same period in 2019 (almost 6.4 million).

“This emptying of Galeão is very worrying. We are losing network to other airports”, says Luiz Velloso, advisor to the presidency of Fecomércio RJ.

Less than 20 kilometers separate the two carioca terminals. Santos Dumont is located in the center of Rio and is closer to tourist attractions in regions such as the south zone. On the other hand, it has geographic limitations.

Galeão is located on Ilha do Governador, far from other neighborhoods in the metropolitan region, whose road connection is the Linha Vermelha, a frequent location for traffic and shootings. The terminal was planned to receive large aircraft.

With the difficult scenario, the RIOgaleão concessionaire confirmed in February the request for the return of the international airport concession.

After the announcement, the federal government began to provide for the re-bidding jointly with Santos Dumont, which is now under the responsibility of Infraero. That is, both can go into the hands of a single group.

Galeão was qualified this month for re-bidding. Now, RIOgaleão, which is controlled by Changi Airports, from Singapore, has until November to sign an amendment to the contract.

The idea is that the text guides the airport’s operating conditions during the re-bidding process. Without it, the qualification loses its effects.

In a note, RIOgaleão states that it complies with the schedule established by the federal government and that it is committed to the deadline established for signing the amendment.

“There is no single reason to explain the emptying of Galeão. It is a gradual process. It didn’t happen from yesterday to today”, says economist Claudio Frischtak, from Inter.B Consultoria.

He recalls that Covid-19 hit international tourism hard, and companies had to redesign the offer of flights.

“The pandemic has accelerated this [esvaziamento do Galeão]. It weakened aviation companies and the airport system in general,” he says.

“There is also a dispute [do Galeão] with Guarulhos. Guarulhos is closer to the country’s business center, which is an advantage,” he adds.

For Marcus Quintella, director of the FGV Transportes study center, the difficulties at the carioca airport are also associated with issues such as urban violence, which works against the arrival of tourists from outside the country.

“The pandemic worsened the crisis. We were already coming from instabilities, this year there was the Ukrainian War, all this creates an unfavorable scenario for tourism”, he points out.

The federal government’s promise to bid for Galeão together with Santos Dumont came after a series of disagreements with Rio de Janeiro’s leaders.

The initial intention of the Ministry of Infrastructure was to place the terminal in downtown Rio in the seventh round of airport concessions, which took place on Thursday (18) and had Congonhas as the crown jewel.

Businessmen and politicians in Rio, however, feared that, without some kind of restriction on new flights, the operation could boost Santos Dumont and deepen the crisis at Galeão.

In the midst of the impasse, there was the creation at the beginning of the year of a working group to discuss the Santos Dumont concession. The initiative brought together representatives of the federal and state government.

It is the recreation of this group that businessmen from Rio de Janeiro defend to analyze the modeling of the auction of the two terminals. The collegiate had its activities closed after the withdrawal of Santos Dumont from the seventh round auction.

“The working group should have already been established”, says Delmo Pinho, advisor to the presidency of Fecomércio RJ.

Eduardo Rebuzzi, president of the Business Council of Logistics and Transport of ACRJ (Rio de Janeiro Commercial Association), follows the same line. “If we reactivate the group, we can advance further in the processes.”

In a note, the Ministry of Infrastructure states that the “contributions made” in the meetings at the beginning of the year about Santos Dumont and the need for synergy with Galeão “are being considered” in the formatting of the eighth round of concessions.

“Only in Santos Dumont, R$ 1.3 billion in private investments are expected during the duration of the contract. Studies are underway to improve the joint concession proposal and predict the amount of resources needed to revitalize Galeão”, says the ministry.

“Three consortia were authorized by MInfra to carry out feasibility studies for the airport, through the Expression of Interest Process (PMI). After being selected and approved by the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), these studies will be shared for public consultation. , when all interested parties will be able to contribute again”, he adds.

In the first half of this year, Santos Dumont had 42,000 takeoffs and landings. It is an increase of 1.3% compared to the same period in 2019 (41.5 thousand), according to Anac data.

At Galeão, the number of takeoffs and landings from January to June this year was 19,700. The mark is equivalent to 45.8% of the level seen in the same range of 2019 – almost 43 thousand.

Recently, Fecomércio RJ, ACRJ and Firjan, which represents the industry in Rio, sent a letter to Anac in which they cite the “lack of flight coordination” and the “cannibalization” of the terminals.

One of the arguments of the business leaders is the defense of restrictions on the expansion of operations at Santos Dumont, as an instrument to preserve the quality of services at the location and the activities of Galeão.

Anac, in turn, states that “it does not interfere with the freedom of tariffs and routes of airlines”.