Military Air Base to Serve Commercial Flights as Porto Alegre Airport Remains Flooded

Azul, GOL, and LATAM announced the return of their flights to Porto Alegre, but through the Canoas Air Base, located 17 kilometers northeast of Salgado Filho International Airport, the ninth busiest in Brazil, as it is still flooded.

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Next week will mark a month since the airport was closed due to the rising waters of the rivers surrounding Porto Alegre, following heavy rains throughout the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in what has been classified as Brazil’s greatest natural disaster of the 21st century.

The peculiarity is that check-in will not be done at the Canoas base, but at the ParkCanoas Shopping, which will serve as a customer service center. Therefore, Azul, GOL, and LATAM recommend travelers to arrive at the location 3 hours before departure time, as check-in will close 90 minutes before.

Flights at Canoas

Azul will offer a daily flight to Campinas/Viracopos (VCP) with Embraer E195 starting June 1, from where connections to the rest of the network will be available.

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On the other hand, LATAM will have five weekly flights from Sao Paulo/Congonhas (CGH) with Airbus A320ceo.

GOL will operate up to nine weekly flights between Canoas and Sao Paulo/Guarulhos.

The airlines will maintain additional

flights to Santa Maria, Santo Ângelo, Pelotas, Uruguaiana, Jaguarunas, Florianópolis, and Caxias do Sul. The measure was taken to keep Porto Alegre (RS) and its metropolitan area connected with the rest of Brazil and to meet their passenger and cargo transport needs through nearby airports.

See also: Brazilian Air Force Deploys 26 Aircraft, Achieves 1,000 Flight Hours in Rio Grande do Sul Flood Relief

What about international flights?

Porto Alegre is the city with the most international flights in southern Brazil, with a network covering connections to Argentina, Chile, Panama, Peru, Portugal, and Uruguay.

Due to the characteristics of the Canoas Air Base, it will not be able to receive regular international flights, so passengers will need to travel to Florianópolis, Curitiba, or São Paulo.