Goiânia Airport resumes construction after 6 years.

With Governor Marconi Perillo as witness, Infraero and the Odebrecht/Via Engenharia consortium signed, late Wednesday afternoon in Brasília, in the presence of the Minister of the Civil Aviation Secretariat, Moreira Franco, an addendum to the contract for the resumption of work on the new passenger terminal at Santa Genoveva Airport. A total of R$ 246,1 million will be invested in the new facilities.

The maximum execution period is 18 months from the service order, which, according to Minister Moreira Franco, should be signed before September 20th at a ceremony to be held in Goiânia. Completion could even be brought forward, depending on agreements to accelerate the process. "Within a maximum of 20 days I will be in Goiânia to sign the service order for the start of the works. I hope that in a short space of time we can guarantee the population of Goiânia the realization of a right, which is to have a quality airport," declared the minister.

“Governor Marconi Perillo – the minister emphasized – was always very present, with a great sense of responsibility in dealing with this issue. The political leaders of Goiás, regardless of party affiliation, joined efforts to resolve the problem. President Dilma Rousseff recommended to me, since I took over the Secretariat of Civil Aviation, that I ensure that the works on the airports of Goiânia and Vitória (ES), which had similar problems, were resumed as quickly as possible.”

The signed addendum formalizes the resumption of the contract for the continuation of the work. In the end, the new passenger terminal will be able to receive up to 8,6 million passengers per year, with an estimated demand of 4,8 million embarkations and disembarkations for 2014.

The resumption of construction on the terminal was authorized at the end of July, when the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) published ruling 1823/2013, which allowed the continuation of services based on the updated and supplemented executive and budgetary projects submitted by the Consortium. The works, under the responsibility of the Federal Government, began in 2005 and were halted in 2007, when the TCU detected irregularities in their execution.

The new facilities at Goiânia Airport will be built in two phases: the first, authorized by the TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts) and to be carried out by the consortium, will cover 26 square meters, with 12 aircraft positions (four with boarding bridges and eight remote positions) sufficient to meet demand until next year.

The second phase, to be completed in 2020, includes a 15 square meter expansion of the passenger terminal, which will have four more boarding bridges. For this second phase, Infraero will conduct a bidding process, since the projects for this stage are being developed by the Consortium, according to an agreement signed in 2012.

“This is a victory for all of us – the people of Goiás, the government of Goiás, our senators, our federal deputies, and all the political forces that were involved in resolving this issue. The agreement has finally been reached,” celebrated Governor Marconi Perillo, recalling that he had been to Brasília almost 50 times seeking a solution and an agreement that could enable the resumption of the works.

"I imagine that if it weren't for the combined efforts of the Federal Government, through Infraero, the Federal Court of Accounts, the Army, the Consortium, and the State Government, we wouldn't have a solution to this mess so soon," declared the governor.

Data

The terminal will have a main building, fully air-conditioned, with a general infrastructure system for smart buildings, a gallery, escalators, panoramic elevators, and four boarding bridges. It will consist of four main levels: a basement, with 4.120 square meters (service area); ground floor, with 12.270 square meters (check-in and boarding area); intermediate level, with 1.600 square meters (technical gallery); and upper level, with 9.170 square meters (food court, shops, boarding area).

The building's basement will house an electrical substation, air conditioning system, storage areas, and infrastructure systems. The ground floor will contain the check-in area with 29 service counters, ticket sales and reservation counters, a lobby, arrivals area, and shops and services for tourism. The domestic arrivals area, also on the ground floor, will include a domestic arrivals hall measuring 1.384,35 square meters, as well as two rooms for Infraero administration and for the Operations Center and related services.

Movement

The current infrastructure of Goiânia Airport – according to Infraero data – has the capacity to receive up to 3,5 million passengers per year. In 2012, annual traffic reached 3 million embarkations and disembarkations. Five airlines operate regular commercial flights from the terminal, connecting Goiânia to 27 cities in 17 Brazilian states.

In the cargo logistics area, the airport processed five thousand tons of cargo last year, mostly imports. The main products circulating in the Goiânia cargo logistics terminal (Teca) are vehicle parts and accessories, toys in general, flooring, products and raw materials for laboratories, IT and electronics, clothing, and fruits. In 2012, the airport's Teca was the 17th best among the 34 terminals then managed by Infraero.

History of works

Construction was halted because the TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts), in an audit conducted in 2006, detected evidence of overpricing in the contracting of the work, ordering Infraero to withhold 20,23% of the amounts to be paid. Dissatisfied, the construction consortium filed ordinary lawsuits against Infraero and the Federal Government, and in 2007 halted the works.

For the resumption of the works, Infraero and the Consortium needed to submit the updated and supplementary executive projects and budgets to the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) so that it could decide on the continuation of the services.

Thus, in August 2012, Infraero signed an addendum to the contract to supplement and update the executive designs for the passenger terminal and the project budget, which were submitted to the TCU (Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts) in May of that year. After evaluation, the Court authorized the resumption of construction on the terminal in July 2013.

On November 23rd, the legal hurdles were overcome, initiating negotiations for the project to begin this year. For Marconi, the nearly 50 trips to Brasília to help unblock this project, which he considers of utmost importance for Goiânia and the entire state of Goiás, were worthwhile.

Last June, Infraero completed the renovation of the runway at Goiânia Airport. The entire 2,5-meter-long, 45-meter-wide asphalt was replaced, and grooving was done at the runway ends, in addition to resurfacing three taxiways. The total investment was R$ 9,7 million.

Ministry of Cities

Before the ceremony, which took place at the Civil Aviation Secretariat, Governor Marconi Perillo met with the Minister of Cities, Aguinaldo Ribeiro. “We reinforced the requests we made to the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) for Urban Mobility in large cities – the Goiânia Light Rail Transit (VLT), the extension of the Anhanguera Axis, resources for BRTs (Bus Rapid Transit) in the area surrounding the Federal District, resources for housing and basic sanitation,” he said, declaring himself convinced that Goiás' requests would be met. “The state has been receiving support because it has presented good projects to all ministries,” he emphasized.