Brazil Revokes Plan to Ease Passenger Cap at Rio’s Santos Dumont Airport

Overview

• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Ports and Airports Minister Silvio Costa Filho on Feb. 3, where they agreed to reverse the flexibilization, later confirmed by the ministry.
• The 6.5 million annual cap at Santos Dumont remains in place after ANAC’s December despacho had opened a path to raise it gradually toward 8 million starting in 2026.
• Officials framed the reversal as necessary to preserve the state’s airport integration policy, with the ministry citing strong recent growth in aviation and tourism.
• Since the cap was introduced, Santos Dumont’s passenger volume fell from about 10.9 million to 5.7 million while Galeão more than doubled from 6.8 million to 16.1 million, lifting combined Rio traffic roughly 23%.
• The Galeão sale process proceeds with a March 30 auction, under a TCU-approved arrangement that ties any Santos Dumont restrictions to the concession’s economic rebalancing to provide regulatory predictability.