Salgado Filho International Airport (SBPA), in Porto Alegre (RS), suspended operations on Friday night (03). The movement, which aims primarily at airport security, is the result of the rains that have hit Rio Grande do Sul since 28/04.

The flood of the Guaíba River began to cause problems in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul this morning. In the afternoon, a large part of the airport site was already covered in water and at the end of the day, parts of the Porto Alegre terminal were already flooded. In total, 27 flights from Blue, Goal and LATAM are canceled in accordance with the panel available on the Fraport website, the concessionaire that manages Salgado Filho Airport. LATAM claims to have stopped arrivals and departures from Porto Alegre until Saturday. Azul and Gol have suspended flights until Sunday. 

At 20:30 pm this Friday, the company suspended landing and takeoff operations at the Airport for 24 hours. Although the note on Fraport's website mentions an indefinite interruption, Fraport's vice president of operations, Edgar Nogueira, said in an interview with Gaucho Radio that activities at Salgado Filho are stopped until 20:30 pm on Saturday. The order can still be extended according to weather conditions in RS. 

As of 20:50 pm (article publication time), the note had not yet been updated. Check out the full text. 

“Fraport Brasil – Porto Alegre informs that, due to the high volume of rain that has hit Rio Grande do Sul in recent days, and to ensure the safety of employees and passengers, landing and takeoff operations are suspended at Porto Alegre Airport, indefinitely. Passengers are asked to contact their airline for more information about their flights.”

According to Nogueira, the decision was taken in agreement with the airlines and air traffic control bodies, due to the possible collapse of a dike near the airport site. He says that although the dike hasn't broken yet, there are already leaks at the site. “If this dike breaks, the volume of water is very large […] and will flow in the direction of head 11 to head 29, potentially impacting Boulevard and Avenida Ceará”, Nogueira told Rádio, further stating that “We don’t want to put any lives at risk.”