MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cargo terminal at Porto Alegre's airport operational again

Opened in 2021, Porto Alegre's International Cargo Terminal (Teca) was launched in 2021 and functions 24/7

While passenger flights are still observing an emergency scheme, the cargo terminal at Porto Alegre's Salgado Filho International Airport (POA/SBPA) has been operational once again since Tuesday after the entire air station was shut down due to the floods hitting the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Agencia Brasil reported. According to Fraport Brasil, the company handling these operations, airport structures such as the runway and baggage conveyors, were not affected. On the other hand, passenger flights were suspended indefinitely on May 3.

Before resuming cargo operations, the site was inspected and cleared by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), the Federal Revenue Service, and the International Agricultural Surveillance (Vigiagro) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

“We know how essential [resumption of TECA operations] is for the state's economy,” said Fraport Brasil's commercial director, Rodrigo Sousa, in a statement.

Fraport Brasil also said that cargo storage fees will start being charged again as of June 15, pursuant to National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) rules. “The opening of this cargo terminal is the first step in this recovery that has already begun, and no effort will be spared to make it fully operational again,” a statement from the company read.

Opened in 2021, Porto Alegre Airport's International Cargo Terminal (Teca) is open 24 hours a day for import and export operations, processing up to 100,000 tons of cargo yearly. In the first four months of 2024, 11,32 thousand tons of cargo and postal bags passed through the international unit measuring 10,559 m².

Among the main types of cargo stored at Salgado Filho's warehouses are mechanical metal, electronics, tools, medicines, textiles, leather, machinery and equipment, perishables, automotive, polymers (such as oil products), live animals, livestock, hospitals, foodstuffs and dangerous cargo of all sorts.