The Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho, reaffirmed, this Tuesday (21), in Foz do Iguaçu (PR), that the government does not believe there will be an increase in the price of airline tickets if the merger between the companies is confirmed. Blue and Gol. The merger is being analyzed by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade).
“I am very confident that there will be no increase in fares. On the contrary, we will strengthen regional aviation, we will have savings on many flights. For example, sometimes you have a flight to the same city, for example, leaving here from Foz do Iguaçu to Curitiba, you have a Gol flight and an Azul flight. Sometimes, on this flight, both planes have a capacity, for example, of more than 150 passengers, but one flight leaves with 80 from Azul and the flight from Gol leaves with 80. So, in a single flight, we could take the population and have an aircraft left over to other destinations in Brazil”, said the minister to the press after participating, late this afternoon, in the delivery ceremony of the modernization works from Foz do Iguaçu International Airport.
“The more companies structure themselves, the more they expand flights, the more they organize themselves structurally, the more they have the capacity to lower [preços de] flights, in other words, to increase occupancy and better qualify the country’s aviation network”, he added.
According to Silvio Costa Filho, the government’s priority at this moment is to strengthen the airlines. “Unfortunately, it would have a much more perverse and damaging effect on Brazil if these companies were to go bankrupt, as they represent 63% to 64% of the market. So, our priority, from the beginning, was to talk to the airlines, to create a credit agenda that never existed. We created a value of R$4 billion. The expectation now is to start the dialogue tomorrow, initially with the president of Gol. And, next week, we should meet with the president of Azul to discuss what they are imagining in relation to this possible merger, with the aim, above all, of strengthening aviation”, stated the minister.
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The minister informed that the notice for the first block of AmpliAR (Private Investment Program in Regional Airports), which includes 50 airports, should be launched between March or April, with an auction until the middle of this year.
“We carried out the first 30 days of listening to the production sector. We extended this for another 30 days, until February 17th. There are already some concessionaires interested in participating, and we hope that now, possibly in the next three months, we will effectively present the first cornerstone of the process of these new concessions in Brazil”, he said. “At the end of June, beginning of July, we should be making the first hires”, he added.
Foz Airport
This Tuesday, the minister participated in the inauguration of expansion works of Foz de Iguaçu International Airport, which had an investment of R$350 million from the concessionaire CCR Aeroportos, with financing from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).
Foz do Iguaçu Airport, in Paraná, opened expansion and modernization works this Tuesday – Photo: Jonathan Campos/AEN
For the minister, improvements to the airport will further promote tourism in the region. “From now on, more and more, we will advance in tourism here in the city, especially in international tourism”, stated Silvio Costa Filho. He said that, alongside the Ministry of Tourism and the government of Paraná, he intends to seek international flights from many destinations in the world that want to reach the state.
For the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Júnior, the expansion of the airport will have fantastic importance for the sector, especially the tourism sector, which is the economic base of Foz do Iguaçu. According to the governor, the works will make the airport one of the most important in Brazil. “What drives the economy of Foz do Iguaçu is tourism. Of course there are other important areas, but tourism is our calling card, it is the foundation of Foz’s economy.
*The reporter traveled at the invitation of CCR Aeroportos
