Brazil's Porto Alegre airport to resume operations after major floods

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Operations at Salgado Filho International Airport in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, one of the country's busiest, will resume in October after unprecedented floods in the region disrupted flights in May.

The airport, operated by Fraport, had its runways and corridors submerged in water as heavy rains battered Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state of which Porto Alegre is the capital, killing more than 180 people.

Flights to and from Salgado Filho had been temporarily suspended due to the damages to the runway and terminals. The government allowed carriers to operate at the nearby Canoas Air Force Base, but at reduced rates as the base did not have adequate infrastructure.

The government said late on Thursday Salgado Filho's operations will resume from Oct. 21, initially with 128 daily flights. Airlines were cleared to sell tickets for flights to and from Porto Alegre starting Friday.

The airport is expected to operate at full capacity from Dec. 16, the government added.

"Initially there will be more than 3,000 flights per month, which will, without a doubt, accelerate the recovery of the state's economy," Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho said.

Azul, one of Brazil's largest airlines, said in a statement on Friday it would be the company with the most slots available when operations restart, planning to operate as many as 60 flights per day.

It has already started selling tickets for flights connecting Porto Alegre to destinations such as Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

"We will be offering more than 57,000 seats a week, which represents 78% of the operation that the company had there before the floods," Azul's planning head Andre Mercadante said, adding that flights to the Canoas Air Base will be suspended.

Local carriers are yet to divulge the financial impact of the floods in the state. Azul, which will publish its second- quarter results next week, said in May the state represented some 10% of its network.

Rival LATAM Airlines, whose Brazilian unit is the country's largest airline by market share, said earlier this week the floods had caused a $25 million hit to its operating income in the second quarter.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by David Holmes)