President says legal and economic security is essential to attract investment to Rio airport
The president (PT) defended, this Friday (March 6, 2026), the resumption of the protagonism of Galeão International Airport as the main gateway for international flights in and out of Brazil. According to him, the government works in partnership with the mayor of Rio, (PSD), to strengthen the terminal and expand its capacity to attract tourists and investments.
“Nobody makes an investment in the country if they don’t have security. First, you have to have legal security so you can make the investment, then you have to have fiscal, economic, social and political security. Otherwise things won’t happen”declared at the ceremony to create the Gol International hub at Galeão.
The president also criticized the emptying of Galeão in recent years and stated that the airport came to look like “a desert”. For him, it makes no sense for a terminal the size of Galeão to lose flights to smaller airports, such as Santos Dumont Airport.
“I discussed the possibility of recovering this here several times, until Eduardo [Paes] Look for me and say: ‘President, we need to recover Galeão airport for Brazil and the world’”these.
Lula also stated that large international airports are usually located outside of urban centers and cited examples of trips abroad in which the journey to the city takes more than an hour. According to him, the recovery of Galeão is strategic for tourism and the country’s economy.
AIRPORTS IN RIO
On February 3, Lula and Paes to deal with the revocation of the flexibility in the number of passengers on Santos Dumont. The decision annulled the order of the (National Civil Aviation Agency) published on December 17, 2025.
The mayor of Rio argued that the flexibility would harm Galeão. At the time, the politician published on his profile on X: “Against facts there are no arguments and the numbers don’t lie: the measures taken by President Lula at the beginning of his term allowed the recovery of Galeão airport, increasing the number of tourists and businesses to the State of Rio”.
LULA IN RIVER
The president spent the day in appointments with Mayor Eduardo Paes. He visited the Roberto Rocca technical school and Comunidade do Aço, in Santa Cruz, where he delivered 64 new apartments, through the Morar Carioca do Aço housing program. With the new stage, the project increases the total number of families covered to 400.
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Afterwards, he participated in the inauguration of the Moacyr Sreder Bastos Tunnel, in Campo Grande, and the international hub in Galeão.
