Union lobby against “elite” airports in Brazil

July 7, 2011

Ideal for Brazil, Essential for the world
A union in Brazil has launched a campaign to fend off pressure on the government to privatise the country’s 68 airports, which it believes could limit the prospect of air travel for working people.
The Sindicato Nacional dos Aeroportuários (SINA) campaign is highlighting the issue among the general public as opposition parties press for airport privatisation to develop the infrastructure ready for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016; they believe that it is possible to both develop the infrastructure to cater for these major sporting events and keep the airports’ core services within the state sector.
The SINA maintains that over the past eight years, the number of passengers in airports managed by the state-owned Brazilian airport infrastructure company Infraero dramatically increased, making air transport “one of the main drivers for social integration in Brazil.”
If airports are privatised, states the union, corporations will want to raise airport taxes and air fares and introduce “aero-shopping”, establishing airports as the exclusive realm of the elite once again.
Gabriel Mocho, ITF civil aviation section secretary, commented: “In a country with such continental dimensions as Brazil, air transport has become an essential part of the public transport network, as well as a tool for national and regional integration. SINA’s campaign is defending these values.”
For more information (in Portuguese), visit: http://www.sina.org.br/turbulencia

A union in Brazil has launched a campaign to fend off pressure on the government to privatise the country’s 68 airports, which it believes could limit the prospect of air travel for working people.
The Sindicato Nacional dos Aeroportuários (SINA) campaign is highlighting the issue among the general public as opposition parties press for airport privatisation to develop the infrastructure ready for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016; they believe that it is possible to both develop the infrastructure to cater for these major sporting events and keep the airports’ core services within the state sector.
The SINA maintains that over the past eight years, the number of passengers in airports managed by the state-owned Brazilian airport infrastructure company Infraero dramatically increased, making air transport “one of the main drivers for social integration in Brazil.”
If airports are privatised, states the union, corporations will want to raise airport taxes and air fares and introduce “aero-shopping”, establishing airports as the exclusive realm of the elite once again.
Gabriel Mocho, ITF civil aviation section secretary, commented: “In a country with such continental dimensions as Brazil, air transport has become an essential part of the public transport network, as well as a tool for national and regional integration. SINA’s campaign is defending these values.”
For more information (in Portuguese), visit: http://www.sina.org.br/turbulencia

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