[registrars] ICANN - SP Travel Alert

["Jeffrey Eckhaus" <jeckhaus@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/06/america/LA_GEN_Brazil_Flight_Cancellations.php

 


Brazil lifts takeoff ban at 3 airports, but passengers face travel nightmares


 

The Associated Press

Published: December 5, 2006



 

SAO PAULO, Brazil: Authorities lifted a ban on takeoffs from three major Brazilian airports Wednesday morning after fixing an air traffic communications system that broke down a day earlier, prompting an unprecedented wave of flight cancellations and travel chaos.

But lines were long at the airport in the capital of Brasilia, at the main airport in the large central city of Belo Horizonte and at the Sao Paulo airport that handles most domestic flights from Brazil's biggest city to all corners the country.

Brazilian airlines suspended ticket sales until the situation is totally resolved and travelers who were forced to sleep in airport terminals overnight are able to make it on to flights that had been scheduled to depart Tuesday, Brazil's Agencia Estado news agency reported.

Investors sold shares of Brazil's two largest airlines, concerned about the financial impact on the companies. American depository shares of No. 1 carrier Tam Linhas Aereas SA opened down 0.5 percent in Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange, or 14 cents to $29.21 (€22.01).

Shares of Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, the nation's second largest airline, fell 0.8 percent, or 24 cents to $28.98 (€21.83), also on the NYSE.

On Tuesday night, Brazil's Civil Aviation Authority halted virtually all takeoffs from the three airports because of a communications system failure that reduced the number of radio frequencies air traffic controllers use to communicate with pilots flying in some of the busiest flight corridors of Latin America's largest country.

Milton Zuanazzi, head of the aviation authority, said Wednesday that travelers were not in danger and that the takeoffs were prohibited to ensure passenger safety, Agencia Estado said.

Authorities did not immediately identify what caused the breakdown. But federal police discounted the possibility of sabotage, saying the problem appeared to be technical and that they would only investigate if asked by Brazil's military, which runs the system, Agencia Estado said.

The aviation authority warned travelers to check on flights with airlines before heading to airports and acknowledged that the incident was Brazil's most disruptive air traffic communications failure in history.

"There has never been a collapse like this," Zuanazzi told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, Brazil's largest.

It also came as most air travelers in Brazil have had to deal with more than a month of serious flight delays sparked by a job protest by controllers.

Following Brazil's worst-ever air crash disaster in September, the controllers began following regulations to the letter in a protest that significantly slowed operations and is having a financial impact on Brazilian airlines.

Under the "work to rule" campaign, they have refused to handle more than the limit of flights recommended under international standards and are strictly observing times between landings and takeoffs. The protest came amid complaints that Brazilian controllers are overworked, underpaid and understaffed despite strong commercial flight growth in recent years.

The commander of Brazil's air traffic control system was subsequently dismissed late last month, though Defense Minister Waldir Pires insisted that it was a routine transfer. The move came just days after shares in Gol and Tam tanked because of continued flight delays that government officials had said they would solve.

Authorities are still investigating whether actions by controllers played a role in the Sept. 29 midair crash above the Amazon jungle in which a Gol airlines Boeing 737 collided with an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet, killing all 154 people on the Gol flight.

The pilots of the jet brought their plane down with no injuries to the seven on board.

Brazilian authorities had prevented the two American jet pilots from leaving the country as investigators probed the crash, but on Tuesday a court ruled that they can pick up their passports and leave within 72 hours. They have been staying in a hotel fronting Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach for more than two months.