Brazilian airports ready to welcome visitors, says Rousseff
The president unveiled the South Pier at Brasília Airport
President Dilma Rousseff has maintained that Brazilian airports are prepared to welcome tourists for the FIFA World Cup. She said that Brazilians will be proud of the new airport terminals, which will be a legacy of the World Cup.
“All those traveling through our airports in most capital cities today will find that the dust and the noise are receding, and the fencing is being removed to make room for modern, comfortable facilities. Indeed, they will be used for the World Cup, but they are chiefly made for the convenience of [domestic] passengers, of these million Brazilians who can now afford to travel by plane. I can assure that our airports are ready for the World Cup. We'll give all [visitors] a proper welcome.”
Speaking on EBC's weekly Breakfast with the President radio broadcast aired Monday (May 19), Rousseff went on to announce she is attending the opening of Terminal 3 of the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo on Tuesday (May 20), which can handle 12 million passengers a year. “The [new] terminal is larger than the existing three operating in Guarulhos, which will also undergo renovations soon. It relies on 20 boarding bridges and an apron with room to park 34 aircraft at a time.”
The president recalled the unveiling of the South Pier at Brasília Airport, where a North Pier will also follow later this month. According to Rousseff, at Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, the renovations and terminal expansion works have resulted in gains of 80% in passenger capacity. And in Manaus, Amazonas, airport capacity has tripled following the expansion and modernization of the passenger terminal.
“At Confins International Airport, in Minas Gerais, works on Terminal 3, apron, and lounge renovations at Terminal 1 will be complete by the end of this month. Both Confins and Galeão will go through other expansion works, but these are not for the World Cup. They will be longer-term works to help address increases in domestic passenger flows.”
In Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, the president went on to say, the projects will quadruple the airport's capacity. “And in Rio Grande do Norte, as soon as this May, we will have a brand-new airport built by the private sector in São Gonçalo do Amarante, a town near the capital, Natal.”
Rousseff stressed that the airport investments will make it possible to meet the growing demand in Brazil, where the number of airport passengers has jumped from 33 million a year in 2003 to 111 million. The president announced that the government is investing close to $3.3 billion to expand 270 regional airports throughout the country. “The local airports will decentralize and make passenger flows easier, so that travelers living or working far from the major centers will gradually be able to take off from within 100 kilometers of their current location. We have already completed feasibility studies for 163 airports, and moved on to the design and engineering phase.”
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Brazilian airports ready to welcome visitors, says Rousseff
