Porto Alegre–Salgado Filho International Airport (POA) reopens its doors today, October 21, 2024, after being closed for more than five months due to significant flood damage. Brazilian authorities expect the facility to be fully operational and operating at maximum capacity by December 21. During the last year, before the closure, the airport had recorded traffic of 7.48 million passengers, showing a significant recovery compared to the 3.48 million in 2020, a period affected by the pandemic. These numbers, despite the increase, had not yet reached the peak of 8.48 million passengers recorded in 2014.

Late April this year brought destruction to the Rio Grande do Sul region due to violent storms, which caused more than 180 deaths. It was the most severe flooding that Brazil has experienced in the last 80 years. The region's airport suffered significant damage to both the terminal and the runway, the latter having already reopened in 2022 after an extension work that allowed the landing of large aircraft such as the Boeing -777 and the Airbus A-330. As a result of the recent damage, all airport operations were halted on May 3. Some flights were temporarily moved and handled by the nearby Canoas air base, although with significantly limited capacity due to inadequate infrastructure.

Today, the first day of resumption, approximately 71 flights are expected to pass through the terminal, involving a total of approximately 9,000 travellers, as indicated by the Ministry of Ports and Airports. The reopening to operations was made possible by the recent completion of a significant phase of the restoration work on the runway and terminal facilities.