Government rejects restriction on flights in Santos Dumont, says secretary

The federal government is open to further adjustments in the concession notice for Santos Dumont airport, in downtown Rio de Janeiro, but refuses to adopt “artificial restrictions” on flights, says the national secretary of Civil Aviation at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ronei Glanzmann.

“Can some adjustments be made? Sure. We’re open to contributions, but there’s no big rabbit in the hat,” he says.

The state government of Rio de Janeiro and the city of Rio de Janeiro are in favor of the Santos Dumont concession, but they contest the transfer model to the private sector.

For local leaders, a large increase in the offer of flights at the terminal, after the auction, could generate a predatory competition with the Galeão international airport, also located in Rio. of the flow in Santos Dumont.

In an attempt to calm things down, the Ministry of Infrastructure announced on Monday (31) that Santos Dumont will be auctioned in isolation, and not in a block with three mining terminals (Montes Claros, Uberlândia and Uberaba).

Jacarepaguá airport (RJ) would also be part of the group, but it was transferred to a new lot, aimed at executive aviation.

According to Glanzmann, Santos Dumont’s isolation was motivated by two reasons. The first responds to requests from Rio for the removal of Minas Gerais airports, since the local understanding was that Santos Dumont could be harmed by carrying less attractive terminals, which the federal government contests.

The second motivation has a legal bias. By separating the asset that generates controversy, the government tries to prevent the tension from contaminating private interest in the other terminals that should go up for auction in the seventh round of airport concessions, scheduled for the first half of this year.

Glanzmann recognizes the risk of judicialization in the Santos Dumont case, but signals that the Ministry of Infrastructure intends to resolve the imbroglio in the working group created this month to discuss the public notice.

“There is a strategy to isolate the asset that was more stressed”, says the secretary. According to him, “at the limit”, what can happen is the seventh round of airport concessions to be made without Santos Dumont.

The end of the activities of the working group that evaluates possible adjustments to the airport model is scheduled for February 18th. The group began activities with representatives of the federal government and the state of Rio.

The city hall of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, which said it was excluded from the initial phase, joined the work this week.

The municipal secretary of Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification of Rio, Chicão Bulhões, believes that the Santos Dumont concession needs to be designed with a view to the city’s multi-airport system. In other words, for a coordinated operation with Galeão, and not a predatory one.

According to the city hall, this was not taken into account by the federal government, which refutes the statement.

Bulhões evaluates the separation of Santos Dumont in the public notice as positive, but believes that it is necessary to go further. “This is positive, but it won’t do any good without adjusting the modeling”, he says.

According to Bulhões, Rio de Janeiro’s terminals already suffer from regulatory problems, which could be deepened after the Santos Dumont auction.

In the view of the city hall, the offer of flights at the terminal should be focused, at least initially, on trips of shorter duration, such as the air transfer to São Paulo and trips to Brasília. The measure would help in the resumption of Galeão, understands the municipal administration.

The suggestion is resisted by the federal government. According to Glanzmann, one of the possible adjustments is to extend the phase for investments in Santos Dumont after the concession, which could give more time for the resumption of Galeão.

Reviewing the possibility of international flights at the airport to be auctioned is another issue under analysis, although the terminal’s structural limitations alone make it difficult to attract these routes, says the secretary. Today, Santos Dumont only operates domestic flights.

According to Bulhões, the city hall of Rio also intends to overcome differences during the work group’s activities, but does not rule out going to court if there is no agreement between the parties.

Before the changes in the airport blocks that will be auctioned, the city of Rio de Janeiro even filed a lawsuit with the TCU (Union Court of Auditors) to question the Santos Dumont model.

The dispute

Next to Congonhas airport, in São Paulo, the carioca terminal is considered one of the crown jewels of the seventh round of airport concessions. The Ministry of Infrastructure projects investments of around R$ 8.63 billion with the transfer of the 16 assets in dispute.

Before announcing the isolation of Santos Dumont, the airports would be divided into three lots. With the move, there will be four.

The ministry also started to provide four public notices, one for each block, instead of just one document. The measure seeks to prevent the tension involving Santos Dumont from reaching the other assets.

Congonhas was on a lot with Campo de Marte, also located in the capital of São Paulo, and terminals in Mato Grosso do Sul and Pará. With the separation of Santos Dumont, the Minas Gerais airfields of Uberlândia, Uberaba and Montes Claros also became part of the block with the São Paulo leadership.

Campo de Marte, in turn, left the group and was incorporated into a new one, focused on executive aviation. The new batch also has the presence of Jacarepaguá, who used to accompany Santos Dumont.

The Congonhas block has the largest planned investment: R$ 5.889 billion. The value of the initial grant — the minimum amount that must be offered by investors to take the group of assets — is R$255 million.

Santos Dumont has an estimated investment of R$ 1.3 billion. The initial grant is the highest in the auction, set at R$ 731 million. The higher value is related to the fact that the carioca airport does not have terminals with less financial capacity, as is the case of Congonhas.

The executive aviation block, made up of Campo de Marte and Jacarepaguá, has an estimated investment of R$ 560 million. The initial grant is R$ 138 million.

The other lot in dispute is called Norte II. There were no changes in this group after the separation from Santos Dumont. It is formed by the terminals of Belém (PA) and Macapá (AP). The forecast is for an investment of R$ 875 million, and the initial grant is R$ 57 million.

The contracts are for a period of 30 years.

Other reflexes

The impasse over Santos Dumont is not restricted to the federal government and representatives of Rio. A sign of this is that airport concessionaires have already signaled concern about the eventual protection of Galeão.

Companies such as GRU Airport, which manages São Paulo’s international airport, in Guarulhos (SP), asked to participate in the working group, but were unable to participate in the discussions due to opposition from representatives from Rio.

Less than 20 kilometers separate Santos Dumont from Galeão. Politicians and businessmen from Rio de Janeiro believe that Santos Dumont has the potential to attract domestic flights, but suffers from geographical limitations in downtown Rio.

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 shootings. The terminal was planned to receive large aircraft. It plays a relevant role in cargo logistics in the state.