Forecast for 2024 is 14 million passengers, a number 77% higher than last yearFernando Frazão/Agência Brasil
Published 04/29/2024 05:00
Rio – The number of passengers at Tom Jobim International Airport, formerly Galeão (GIG), increased by 86% compared to the same period last year, from January to March. Part of this growth is attributed to the regulatory measure implemented by the Ministry of Ports and Airports to limit the number of passengers to 6.5 million passengers/year at Santos Dumont Airport (SDU).
The Ministry of Ports and Airports informed the THE DAY that, despite not having been the objective, the regulatory measure increased the flow of passengers at Tom Jobim Airport.
“The federal government has received complaints from political and business leaders in Rio de Janeiro about service level problems in SDU. As a result, a regulatory measure was instituted limiting the annual movement of SDUs to 6.5 million pax/year from January 2024. Although the restriction was not instituted with the aim of stimulating traffic on Galeão, it is believed that it will have this indirect effect, given that part of the demand in Rio de Janeiro, which was originally served by the SDU (Santos Dumont), will now be served by GIG”, he stated in a note.
In comparison with the same period in 2023, Galeão had an increase of 88% in January, going from 717,105 passengers in 2023 to 1,355,423 in 2024. In February, the airport registered an increase of 83%, with the number of travelers, increasing from 611,459 to 1,119,340. The number of passengers in March grew 85%, jumping from 593,408 passengers to 1,103,521. Considering the three-month period, the terminal recorded an 86% growth in the number of passengers, totaling 1,921,972 in 2023 and 3,578,284 in 2024.
After the gradual decrease in the number of passengers at Santos Dumont Airport from October 1st, caused by the implementation of the regulatory measure, the number of Tom Jobim travelers grew. In September, before the measure, there were 595,671 passengers. In October, there were 765,237; in November, 845,030, and in December, 1,054,393 travelers per month.
In a note sent to THE DAY, the concessionaire Riogaleão reported that the forecast for this year is 14 million passengers, a number 77% higher than last year. In February 2022, with the drop in the number of flights, RIOgaleão, controlled by the Changi Group, from Singapore, expressed its intention to return the administration of the terminal to the federal government.
In October 2023, after implementing the regulatory measure to limit the number of passengers at Santos Dumont Airport, the concessionaire went back and sent a letter to the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), the Coordination of the Investment Partnership Program Secretariat and to the Ministry of Ports and Airports, expressing interest in continuing the operation. When contacted to comment on the matter, the concessionaire responded that “conversations are continuing with the federal government to seek a joint solution for the long-term rebalancing of the Tom Jobim International Airport contract”.
To meet the new flow of travel, RIOgaleão plans to invest R$110 million in the airport in 2024.
Airlines
Due to the limited number of passengers on Santos Dumont, airlines had to make changes to their flights.
Latam informed the report that changes have been made since October 2023 to meet operational restrictions. The routes from Belo Horizonte/Confins airports; Porto Alegre, Salvador and Vitória were transferred from Santos Dumont Airport to Tom Jobim International Airport (Galeão). The company also opened the Rio de Janeiro/Galeão-Manaus, Rio de Janeiro/Galeão-Recife and Rio de Janeiro/Galeão-Natal connections in the first quarter of 2024. Another novelty is that the company plans to start operating the Rio de Janeiro route Janeiro/Galeão-São Luís from May.
Gol announces that the Brazilian cities that will be connected by the airline with Rio de Janeiro, exclusively through RIOgaleão, are: Aracaju (AJU), Belém (BEL), Belo Horizonte/Confins (CNF), Campinas (VCP), Caxias do Sul (CXJ), Curitiba (CWB), Florianópolis (FLN), Fortaleza (FOR), Foz do Iguaçu (IGU), Guarulhos (GRU), João Pessoa (JPA), Maceió (MCZ), Manaus (MAO), Natal (NAT), Navegantes (NVT), Porto Alegre (POA), Porto Seguro (BPS), Recife (REC), Salvador (SSA) and Vitória (VIX).
Azul informs that, currently, it carries out, on average, 260 weekly flights at Tom Jobim International Airport (Galeão), in Rio de Janeiro, connecting to seven destinations: Belo Horizonte (MG), Campina Grande (PB), Curitiba (PR ), Maceió (AL), Porto Alegre (RS), Recife (PE) and Campinas (SP).
* Article by intern Alexia Gomes, under the supervision of Marlucio Luna
