Irai - Vicente Dutra Airport

The closure was due to economic reasons. A nationwide decline in the viability of regional air travel in Brazil during the 1980s and 1990s, combined with improvements in highway infrastructure, made the airport commercially unsustainable. The tourist flow to Iraí's famous thermal spas was no longer sufficient to support the operational costs of regular flights, leading to the withdrawal of airline services and the airport's eventual abandonment.

The airport is permanently closed and the site has been repurposed for agricultural use. The runway, though still visible in satellite imagery, is completely overgrown and unusable. In 2021, the municipal government of Iraí officially transferred the land for the development of a large-scale poultry farming complex known as the 'Condomínio Avícola Iraí'. The construction of industrial poultry sheds now occupies the former airport grounds, and the old terminal building is in a state of ruin.

Inaugurated on July 14, 1956, the Vicente Dutra Airport (former ICAO: SSIR) was a cornerstone of Iraí's economy and a symbol of its prestige during its peak as a major health tourism destination. The airport was instrumental in bringing tourists from across Brazil to the city's renowned thermal and mineral water spas. It handled regular commercial flights from prominent airlines, most notably VARIG and its regional subsidiary Rio-Sul Linhas Aéreas, which operated iconic aircraft like the Douglas DC-3 and later the Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante. These flights provided a crucial link to the state capital, Porto Alegre, and solidified Iraí's reputation as a premier wellness resort in the mid-20th century.

There are no prospects for reopening the airport. The decision to rezone and repurpose the land for a significant agricultural project is permanent and makes any future aviation use unfeasible. The local government and community have shifted their economic development strategy for this site from aviation to agriculture, effectively ending any possibility of the airport's reactivation.