On the morning of this Monday, the 2nd, Infraero brought together authorities, the press and the tourism trade from the Hortênsias Region to deliver the renovation and expansion works at Canela Airport and announce new investments with the aim of enabling the facility to receive international flights on a temporary basis.
“Today is a very important day for our region. Canela airport has been renovated and expanded, and has received new equipment. Today, Infraero is inaugurating the new airport, which will allow it to receive medium-sized aircraft. This inauguration marks a new moment for the entire region, which will now have better connectivity with Brazil,” said Festuris CEO Eduardo Zorzanello, who attended the inaugural ceremony.
Infraero took over the airport's management in August and soon announced a construction plan. During this period, the runway was expanded by 12 meters in width and 80 meters in length, reaching a total size of 30m x 1,340m. In addition to the expansion, the entire length of the runway received new resurfacing and new horizontal signage (painting). The taxiway and aircraft apron were also renovated.
The airport also received a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) system, which assists pilots in air navigation. With these improvements, the airport is now able to receive ATR-72 aircraft with a capacity for 72 passengers. In total, approximately R$20 million was invested.
RECORD COMPLETION – Infraero President Rogério Barzellay celebrated the completion of the works for this first stage and announced that there will be a new extension to the runway. At one end, vegetation will be cleared to pave another 110 meters of runway, increasing the length to 1,450 meters.
“Our commitment, starting in January, is to implement nighttime beacons. So we will have an airport that will operate 24 hours a day. This will be a complement to the PAPI, which is already installed and should be approved soon. And we also intend, God willing, to bring in a radio station and a weather station, so that we have the necessary security to work visually, but also with instruments,” he highlighted.
“And within the scope of what was requested, we are already in talks with teams from Anvisa, the Federal Police and the Federal Revenue Service to carry out the internationalization, even if temporarily, here at Canela airport. Temporary internationalization is the installation of a device for when there are international flights. We will leave the infrastructure ready to receive at least flights from here in South America,” he promised.
Infraero's commercial director, Tiago Faierstein, revealed that there are already advanced conversations with airlines, vehicle rental players and other services for operations in Canela.
In the end, representatives of Visão – Development Agency of the Hortênsias Region delivered a project for the construction of a passenger terminal next to Canela airport.
Text: Fernando Gusen