Belo Horizonte is a big city. With 2.5 million inhabitants, it is larger than the German capital, Berlin.
Its metropolitan area, with 6 million, leaves behind other American centers such as Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Caracas. It is the same size as Santiago de Chile.
Despite this fact, this city does not manage to maintain its Civil Airport, which houses 22 hangars, and 15 aviation companies, showing that this once proud capital city has lost its edge and ambition to be among the best.
Besides the fact that the closing will be causing “chaos” in aviation in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (RMBH) and nearby regions.
Close to completing its eightieth anniversary, the Carlos Prates airport in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the Brazilian Minas Gerais state, will be definitively closed as of this Saturday (1) when Infraero will no longer operate it.
(Civil aviation in Carlos Prates airport. Courtesy Thiago Marcarini)
The decision was maintained by the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
Founded in 1944, Carlos Prates is considered a service airport for civil aviation dedicated to operating aviation schools, aircraft maintenance workshops, and air cab companies.
About 120 small planes – with four to six seats for crew and passengers – are still in its 22 hangars, according to the Voa Prates Association, formed by pilots, business people, and other airfield professionals.
The group fears the end of about 500 jobs and says the future of civil aviation in the area is also uncertain.
Carlos Prates Airport is recognized by the Airspace Control Department as one of the safest airports in the country, being the second busiest in Minas Gerais and the 23rd in Brazil.
According to the association, there is no airport within a radius of one hundred kilometers with the capacity to hold such a large number of planes.
The commercial Pampulha airport, also in the capital city of Minas Gerais, has its capacity exhausted after receiving about 15 planes at Prates. “It will be the collapse for civil aviation in Minas Gerais”, says Estevan Velásquez, president of Voa Prates.
A circular issued by Infraero on March 20 confirms that the deadline for the demobilization of the activities ends this Saturday and communicates that “goods not removed in time will be considered abandoned, whose possession will remain with the grantor, who may dispose of them in the form of the law.
In the interpretation of the owners, there is a risk that access to the aircraft will be blocked and that they will be incorporated by a possible new airport operator or any other institution that may take over the land, whether private or public.
To the Folha outlet, by phone, the Ministry of Ports and Airports explained that it is trying to solve the impasse involving the aircraft and that there is no intention to prevent takeoffs. +The closure is for landings.
In a statement, the ministry said that a “legal instrument is being prepared by the National Secretariat of Civil Aviation so that the Municipality of Belo Horizonte can organize the closure of activities, giving time for the aircraft hangared and the services provided to be transferred to other locations properly.
“Over time, the current airport operations may be allocated to other airports, such as Pampulha and Confins, in addition to regional airports in the metropolitan area of the capital of Minas Gerais, such as Conselheiro Lafaiete (MG), which is interested in serving aviation schools,” the note says.
According to the ministry, there is the intention that Infraero gives support to the city to make the necessary management of the site until the complete demobilization and removal of assets.
Considering the aviation market’s values, the aircraft in Carlos Prates is not necessarily expensive.
Manufactured by the American company Cessna, most cost about R$300 (US$60) thousand.
“They are not for wealthy people, but for those who work here, these planes are life,” Velásquez says.
About the destination of the Airport, the Ministry of Infrastructure said that Minister Márcio França offered the management of the Airport to the State Government of Minas Gerais, but there was no interest.
The Minas Gerais government sent a note to the report stating that, through the State Department of Infrastructure and Mobility, requested to Minister Márcio França this week that the dismantling process of Carlos Prates be extended for six months “so that it would be possible to carry out and implement planning regarding the aerodrome in a more appropriate, organized and safe way and with time for the reorganization of all involved.
The request, according to the government of Minas, “took into account the complexity of the operation, which involves different actors working at the Airport, as well as the need for adequate planning to minimize social impacts, including possible job losses and the non-execution of services already contracted.
“Despite the efforts undertaken, the Government of Minas Gerais respects the federal government’s decision to maintain the demobilization plan and is at the disposal of the Prefecture of Belo Horizonte and citizens to contribute to the dismantling process while observing the legal limitations,” says the statement from the administration of Governor Romeu Zema (Novo).
The Prefecture of Belo Horizonte, which according to the ministry, will take over the management of the land, said that the “decision to close the airport is up to the federal government” and that it trusts “that this decision takes into account all the logistics of air transport, which is the competence of the Union, also considering the other regional equipment”.
The municipality also informed that “it only expressed interest in receiving the area for social purposes, in case the decision to deactivate was made”.
“The Belo Horizonte City Hall forwarded this proposal, which has some guidelines, such as the expansion of green and leisure areas, installation of cultural, school, and health equipment, and also an area for affordable housing, commerce, and non-polluting industry,” said the note from the administration of Mayor Fuad Noman (PSD).
In response to criticism that the installation of a large housing complex at the site would endanger pedestrians and drivers in the region of Belo Horizonte’s ring road, the city government explained that the area could not be fully occupied by housing because the city’s master plan has rules that restrict housing densification at the site.
“The definitive project for the area, however, will only be contracted after the definitive transfer of the property,” it informed.
VOA PRATES ASSOCIATION
But some people want to save this critical infrastructure. The Voa Prates association will try to change the fate of the Carlos Prates Airport.
The forecast is that yesterday Saturday was the last day of operation of the space as an aerodrome.
“We are going to use all possible and feasible tools. In the last case, if nothing changes, the way out is to go to court”, says the president of the association, Estevan Velásquez.
The entity’s president stresses that it is impossible for the entire structure assembled at the site to be transferred to another area.
“There is no area within a radius of 150 kilometers from Belo Horizonte with all the appropriate infrastructure to receive a fraction of what happens in Carlos Prates today. Pampulha, for example, had no more empty hangar”, he argues.
According to the association’s president, the installed companies didn’t have time to plan. And there were until yesterday 108 aircraft at Carlos Prates Airport.
The president of Voa Prates says that the assessment that the Carlos Prates Airport “would be unviable” and “loss-making” is said to be false.
According to the association, several feasibility studies have proven that the airfield is economically viable, including having the state government.
“Voa Prates has signed more than 15 letters of commitment from companies interested in doing business at the airport, willing to be there as soon as they are authorized to operate,” it states.
CONTROVERSY
The airport situation divides opinions. On March 22, an act was against the aerodrome closing in front of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in Belo Horizonte.
The protest was attended by about 70 people, including students, pilots, and employees of the five aviation schools located at the airfield.
On occasion, they affirmed that the end of the Airport would impact the future of the formation of 1 thousand young people per year who wish to work in the aeronautical sector, besides destructuring the teaching institutions in the area that are references in the industry in the country.
According to information from Voa Prates, since its foundation, the Airport has graduated more than 85 thousand aviators, positioning itself in the airport market as the second-largest instruction center in Brazil.
The destination of the site also received several suggestions. The most recent one was to use the airport area to make the Prates Tech Innovation District feasible.
The proposal is from the Minas Gerais State Software and Information Technology Industry Union (Sindinfor).
Last Wednesday, representatives of associations of residents around the Airport met with Mayor Fuad Noman and deputies and councilmen to discuss projects for the area after its donation.
The Belo Horizonte City Hall (PBH) proposal is that the site will be used to construct low-income housing, a leisure and living area, and public facilities such as health areas and schools.
The project is estimated to cost around R$ 500 million, which will come from financing.