Before the naysayers look askance at busi-ness aviation in Latin America and sug-gest that recent years of growth weresomething of an anomaly, they mightconsider the recent Latin American Busi-

ness Aviation Conference & Exhibition in SãoPaulo, Brazil, a show that can be described only asa resounding success.

When LABACE was cancelled last year, somepronounced the show dead and suggested that busi-ness aviation growth in Latin America was anemic atbest. They were wrong on both counts.

This year, LABACE drew 6,041 attendees,nearly 1,000 more than the 2005 show. The 71 ex-hibitors and 35 aircraft on static display were alsorecord numbers. The show was organized this yearby the Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral(ABAG), with minimal support from NBAA. And

according to association president Rui Thomaz deAquino, the value of orders taken at this year’s showapproached $200 million, $50 million more than theorganization had forecast.

At the show Dassault reported the sale of a Falcon2000LX, OceanAir took orders for a Global 5000and two Learjet 60XRs on behalf of Bombardier,Embraer sold a Legacy 600, and Táxí Aéreo Marilia(TAM) found homes for three Citations, one of themthe first Brazilian order for the new Mustang.

As for any suggestion that business aviation inLatin America is less than robust, José EduardoBrandão, commercial director of Ocean Air TáxiAéro of São Paulo, could not disagree more. “Themarket in Brazil is incredibly hot,” he told AIN atLABACE. Noting that there is a fleet of about 350Bombardier aircraft in Latin America, he said OceanAir’s charter operation expects to receive its first

Challenger 605 in November and its first Learjet60XR next September. As the exclusive representa-tive in Brazil for Bombardier, Ocean Air has also re-cently sold two Global Express XRSes to Brazilianmining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.

Brandão added that Bombardier has opened a newparts depot in São Paulo and for the past year hasbeen stockpiling aircraft parts for the facility. The3,000-sq-ft depot will hold approximately 2,300 indi-vidual high-demand parts totaling more than 75,000items with a value of approximately $7 million.

Ocean Air, it was announced in August, is now anauthorized service center for all Bombardier busi-ness jets, and by November will have expanded itsmaintenance and service capabilities to include allChallengers and Globals.

According to Brandão, Brazil is not the onlyLatin American country in which business aviation

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OEMs predict strongfuture demand

BUSINESS AVIATIONgathers momentum

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is showing definite signs of activity. He said theeconomies of Argentina and Colombia, in particular,are “improving rapidly.” With business on the up-swing, TAM has plans to become an authorizedmaintenance center for Bell Helicopter next year atthe company’s service facility in Jundiai.

In addition to leading ABAG, Aquino serves aspresident of TAM, one of the largest aviation serv-ices providers in Latin America. Aquino echoedBrandão’s optimism. TAM is building a $7 million,100,000-sq-ft hangar at São Paulo’s Congonhas In-ternational Airport. The facility will include a newFBO and expects to have a new maintenance centerready in Jundiai, Brazil.

In the week preceding LABACE, Aquino saidTAM placed orders with Cessna for 10 CitationMustangs, a Citation CJ3, a Citation XL and fiveCaravans. The company expects to take delivery ofthree CJ2s and a Citation X by the end of the year.

The reason is clear. “We almost doubled our char-ter hours from 2005 to 2006 and now we’re averag-ing 50 hours a month per aircraft,” he said.

The Citation Mustangs, said Aquino, are ex-pected to go into the company’s air-taxi service,“perfect,” he said, for carrying four or five passen-gers on routes of about 500 nm.

Aircraft Manufacturers Set Sights on a Target-rich Market

Bombardier apparently sees Latin America as a tar-get-rich environment for its wares. The company had aChallenger 605, Challenger 300 and Learjet 45XR onstatic display at the show. “Bombardier is strengthen-ing its position in the Latin American market,” saidFábio Rebello, regional v-p of sales for Latin America.

There are 320 Bombardier aircraft in the LatinAmerican fleet, according to Rebello. That equatesto a 26-percent market share. He described last yearas “our best [year] ever in Latin America.” Bom-bardier expects to make its first delivery of the $27million Challenger 605 in Brazil by year-end.

Rebello said in the past year or two, the companyhas seen increased demand for aircraft with longerrange, such as the 605 and the Global line. “Thesetransactions are driven by economic developmentand globalization,” he explained, adding, “We antici-pate the trend will continue.”

Cessna, which dominates the light and midsize jetmarket in Latin America, sees “a bright future” in

the region, with “similar market forces in play thatwe’ve seen in Asia, in particular the need to createyour own travel schedule.”

Todd Duhnke, Cessna director of internationalsales, described Brazil as the current giant in theLatin American market, but also noted, “Chile has avibrant economy [and] we just took an order fromArgentina for a Citation.”

Duhnke said the Citation Sovereign is getting alot of interest from the Latin American market, not-ing that with its 2,881-nm range, the Sovereign canfly nonstop from a central point to almost any desti-nation in the region.

On display at LABACE was Cessna’s new Cita-tion Mustang. The airplane got a lot of visitors, saidDuhnke, and two have already been delivered inCentral America.

Anticipating an aircraft production rate by 2009that will double 2005’s 60-aircraft-a-year pace, Das-sault Falcon expects to deliver 20 new Falcons inBrazil by 2012, adding to the fleet of 15 Falcons al-ready in service there. And according to companypresident and CEO John Rosanvallon, “a significantnumber of [the new airplanes] will be Falcon 7Xs.”The new 7X, he pointed out, is a nonstop link be-tween Brazil and “just about any major center oftrade in the world.”

The first Falcon 7X in Latin America will be de-livered to a Brazilian customer shortly after Brazil-ian authorities certify the new trijet later this year.

If Latin America can claim a single homegrownrepresentative of business aviation, it is Brazilianmanufacturer Embraer.

In some ways, the São Jose dos Campos-basedcompany has come lately to the business of businessaviation, introducing the Legacy 600 in 2000 as anexecutive variant of its ERJ 135 regional airliner.Earlier this year, Embraer marked delivery of the100th Legacy 600 and celebrated the first flight ofthe Phenom 100 very light jet. The company expectsthe Phenom 300 light jet to fly next spring. In addi-tion, it introduced the Lineage 1000, an executivevariant of its E190 airliner, now has 10 on order, andplans to deliver the first next summer. The companyhas a combined total order book for 500 Phenom100s and Phenom 300s.

“We have six Legacy 600s in service in Brazil nowand will have eight by the end of this year and 10 before the end of next year,” said Luis Carlos Affonso, executive v-p of Embraer Executive Aviation.

Over the next decade, he said, there is an esti-mated market in Latin America for 680 executivejets worth about $5.9 billion. By next year, Affonsoexpects Embraer to have gained a 15-percent shareof that market. The value of firm orders jumpedfrom $600 million in 2005 to $2 billion in 2006.

Embraer took advantage of the LABACE show tomake the first public introduction of its Phenom 100,rolling it onto the static display line on the secondday of the show.

Gulfstream, which has a fleet of more than 60 air-craft–from G100s to G550s–in service in LatinAmerica, was at LABACE with a G100, G200,G450 and G550. Gulfstream, said a spokesman, “hassingled out Latin America as an educated marketthat understands business aviation.”

That “educated market” has taken the OEM froma fleet total of 34 airplanes in Latin America in 2002to a number approaching 70 aircraft today, a 106-percent increase, said president of international salesRoger Sperry. He also noted that Gulfstream has notignored support, positioning a line service facility inVenezuela and an authorized service center andmajor parts depot in São Paulo.

Hawker Beechcraft, which recently received cer-tification of its Hawker 900XP derivative, had an

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Astrum Takes a Ride on Belize Tourism

Aiming to benefit from a growing tourism mar-ket that brings more than one million visitors ayear to Belize, Astrum Helicopters has taken deliv-ery of a Bell 206L-4 LongRanger to supplement itsfleet of Bell 206s.

To be used for charter flights, the new helicop-ter has an executive, six-passenger configurationand sliding passenger cabin door. The interior com-pletion work required eight months.

Astrum Helicopters, the only charter and air-taxiservice in the country, offers transportation fromPhilip Goldson International in Belize City on thecoast to local heliports at Cisco Base and Old Belize. Charter flights for tourism, corporate andscientific purposes are also scheduled to variousdestinations such as the Great Blue Hole, Glover’sReef and 1,000-foot Falls. Clients are for the mostpart foreign executives and families, usually fromNorth America.

“What we here at Astrum Helicopters offer thatis different from other charter services in the worldis Mother Nature’s best-kept secret–Belize,” said anAstrum spokesman.

The tourism industry is an important economicpillar of the country. In March the airport received arecord 25,000 visitors. Considering the continuinggrowth in tourism, Astrum Helicopters forecastscorrespondingly greater demand for helicoptercharter. The company also expects expanded use ofhelicopters in geological exploration, search-and-rescue and cargo transport. –Teresa Cepinho

Astrum Helicopters is riding the crest of a tourismboom in Belize, where some of the more pristinesights, such as the Great Blue Hole, 60 milesoutside Belize City, are more easily accessible byhelicopter. Astrum uses its Bell 206s to bringtourists to these popular destinations.

Dassault brought a Falcon 2000EX EASy to the static display at LABACE. The company plans to deliver 20 Falcons in Brazil by 2012.

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impressive presence at LABACE with a two-storypre-fab chalet. Across the ramp in front of the chaletwere a Hawker 850XP, a 400XP, a Premier IA andan assortment of King Airs.

Junia Hermont Correa is directing superin-tendent of Hawker Beechcraft representativeLider Aviação in São Paulo. As of July 30, shesaid, the Belo Horizonte-based air serviceprovider had 30 business aircraft on order–26King Airs and four Hawkers.

Hawker Beechcraft claims a 33-percent marketshare of the entire business aviation fleet in LatinAmerica, and of 300 turbine aircraft delivered inLatin America between 2002 and 2006, the Wichita-based manufacturer claims a 40-percent share.

Chris Charnley, v-p of sales for Latin Americafor Hawker Beechcraft, said the company hadplanned to have a super-midsize Hawker 4000 ondisplay at LABACE. “We had one making demon-stration flights the week before LABACE; putting iton the static display line would have locked it inplace,” said Charnley.

Political stability in the region for the past coupleof years has added to economic stability throughoutmuch of Latin America, which in turn has created ageneral climate of growth that has been conducive tobusiness aviation in the region. Ernesto Rois-Mén-dez, president of the Asociación Latinoamericana deAeronáutica (Latin American Aeronautical Associa-tion), describes today’s political environment inLatin America as more stable than in the past, addingthat “along with it has come economic stability.”

If reports from aircraft handlers are any indica-tion, travel within Latin America and to and from theregion from other countries continues to grow.“We’re seeing an increase in business aviation activ-ity within Latin America mainly due to the lack ofairline connections,” said Walter Lindo, a UniversalWeather & Aviation regional director.

Political Stability Equals Economic Stability

Economic stability in Latin America has tradi-tionally followed political stability, and the dustkicked up by hard-fought presidential elections inBrazil and Chile has settled somewhat.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a secondfour-year term in Brazil and is riding expectations of4.7-percent economic growth this year. In addition,he has offered a budget proposal for next year that isbased on a growth projection that year of 5 percent.

The Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) producedby the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Jour-nal describes Chile as “a regional power.” Despitehigh personal income taxes, relatively low corporatetaxes in Chile are at about 17 percent and govern-ment spending has been moderate relative to thegross domestic product. Last year, Chile elected asits new president Michelle Bachelet, who has vowedto maintain strong economic growth, but as a social-ist leader she is also dedicated to narrowing the gapbetween rich and poor.

Colombia continues a slow return to order underpresident Álvaro Uribe. Together with reducedspending, the stability has created a safer businessenvironment. One OEM representative told AIN, “Itwouldn’t surprise me to see Colombia become thenew Chile. We’ve looked closely at the country andits growing economy and it appears to have a muchbrighter future than [it did] a decade ago.”

In Mexico, the early days of new president FelipeCalderon Hinojoso seem only to confirm the insta-bility of democracy in that country, and next year’scongressional elections might disrupt the economicreforms Calderon promised. On the other hand, to agreater extent than those of other Latin Americancountries, Mexico’s economic fortunes are tied tothose of the U.S. and therefore are likely to remainstable even as democracy in Mexico falters.

Venezuela continues its march into the arms ofsocialism. According to the IEF, Venezuela nowranks 144th among the world’s countries in terms ofeconomic freedom. President Hugo Chávez prom-ised reforms to benefit the poor, but poverty inVenezuela rose from 43.9 percent in 1998 (the yearhe was first elected president) to 55.1 percent in2003. Further, the country’s 16-percent annual rateof inflation is the highest in Latin America, and na-tionalization of private enterprise continues to deterforeign investment.

The Proper Paperwork, Properly Filled Out and Properly Submitted

Traffic in and out of Venezuela remains high,according to trip handlers (about 300 business air-craft movements a month in Caracas). The downside, they say, is that the Venezuelan government ismaking such operations increasingly difficult, and

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BUSINESS AVIATIONgathers momentum

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Marcia’s Catering: A Brazilian Taste for Business Aviation

In Brazil in 1992, a corporate pilot asked his wife forhelp, saying his passengers were complaining about thecatering service provided on the Gulfstream he was flying.She was a dentist with no cooking skills but excellent tastein choosing restaurants and dishes, so she agreed to help.

Fifteen years later, Márcia Pesce Gomes da Costa isstill “helping,” as owner of Márcia’s Catering. In that timeshe has expanded the business, hired nutritionists andchefs, and turned the São Paulo-based service into one ofthe best known and most requested by business aviationpassengers and operators based in or visiting the country.

Based at Congonhas Inter-national Airport, Márcia’s hasanother kitchen in the capital cityof Brasília. She also has plans tobuild new kitchens in Belo Hori-zonte and Rio de Janeiro.

In the beginning, the catererserved the airline market as wellas business aviation, offeringmeals to VASP and other smallcarriers. “We used to preparemore than 3,000 meals a day, sowe split our kitchen service intotwo sections, one for business aviation and the other forcommercial aviation,” explained Costa. “But we decided toserve only private jets and charter, as these segmentsproved more profitable and offered more room for creativ-ity. We also find it more enjoyable to prepare tailoredmenus for individual flights.”

Revenues are increasing. Last year Márcia’s Cateringregistered 8-percent growth compared with the previousyear; this year the company forecasts still better growth.The improved revenues, she concludes, are a conse-quence of greater numbers of larger aircraft, demandingmore as well as more elaborate in-flight meals.

The recent Latin American Business Aviation Confer-ence & Exhibition was catered by Márcia’s, with the com-pany providing the food at the exhibit booths, the VIPrestaurant and the opening lunch and cocktails. Márcia’shired more than 100 people to assist with the event.

Márcia’s menu includes a number of desserts with aBrazilian flair, such as crunchy coffee ice cream withroasted banana slices, marinated mango in cachaça (aBrazilian rum) and vanilla sauce.

Costa gets a number of requests for low-fat options.The menu also features kosher, organic and vegan fare.

Aware of the growing concern for proper hygiene,Costa said the company follows Hazard Analysis andCritical Control Point rules and has procedures in placefor selecting ingredients, taking into consideration ori-gin, quality and supplier reliability.

Marcia’s Catering has no plans to expand businessoutside Brazil since it already has its hands full servingsmaller but steadily growing regional airports. Neverthe-less, Costa relishes the chance to bring a taste of Brazilto the business aviation experience. –T.C.

Márcia Pesce Gomesda Costa

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Hawker Beechcraft and Lider, its representative in Brazil,shared a chalet and aircraft exhibit space at LABACE thatincluded a Premier IA.

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landing permits that once took hours to obtain arenow sometimes requiring days.

In Brazil, in the wake of two major airline acci-dents that claimed more than 340 lives, air trafficcontrollers in that country have developed “a sort ofbunker mentality,” said some trip special-ists in the U.S., adding that, as a result,operators can expect landing and depar-ture delays.

In São Paulo, for example, helicopteroperators might see some new restric-tions on the building of helipads and op-eration of helicopters. The city isconsidering a proposal that will limit op-erations from civil helipads in the city tobetween 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Heliportsbuilt to accommodate more passengersas well as helicopter maintenance wouldbe limited to 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

ABAG is also seeking involvement ingovernment proposals to limit the num-ber of flights at Guarulhos International Airportfor 50 days during runway repairs. This is expectedto reduce the number of movements to 30 per hour,which ABAG believes will limit operations by pri-vate aircraft. The typical number of hourly aircraftmovements at Guarulhos is 49.

In Mexico, lawmakers are considering a recommen-dation that would require the physical search of every

airplane entering the country, whether for an overnightstay or a fuel stop. In fact, said Universal sales and mar-keting coordinator Liliana Zagal Sánchez, it is alreadymandatory at Adolfo Lopez Mateos Airport in Toluca.The inspection includes removal of luggage and the

presence of drug-sniffing dogs.Mexico and Venezuela are not the

only countries in Latin America that, in-tentionally or unintentionally, create oc-casional backfires in the engine ofinternational travel.

While procedures at major airports ina country are standard, that is not thecase at smaller airports. Bolivia, for ex-ample, continues to require proof of anaircraft’s field performance after arrival.But at El Alto International airport(13,313 feet msl) in La Paz, this proofmust be presented before a landing per-mit can be issued. What’s more, La Pazalso requires that requests for landing

clearance be accompanied by a letter of authoriza-tion on company letterhead authorizing the handlerto process information as their legal representative.

Universal in Santiago, Chile, has at least partiallysolved the problem created when customs authoritiesthere stopped clearing business aircraft passengersthrough the UVGlobal facilities, requiring them totrek by bus to the main terminal to be processedalong with international airline passengers. They stillmust travel by bus, but they are then allowed to gothrough the shorter flight crew line.

One trip specialist said getting into and out of anyLatin American country is relatively easy, providedthe proper paperwork is filled out correctly, theproper documents provided, and everything is prop-erly submitted with sufficient lead time.

A Market Beginning To Realize Its Potential

In spite of regulatory and operational difficul-ties (see story on page 49), differences in regionalprocedures and some continued unease regardingpolitical and economic stability, the Latin Ameri-can business aviation market might be on the verge

BUSINESS AVIATIONgathers momentum

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Luis Carlos Affonso,executive v-p of EmbraerExecutive Aviation

The Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition drew a record 35 aircraft to its static display.

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When it comes to “giving back,” Brazilian aircraft manufacturerEmbraer does it in a way that gives hope to hundreds of schoolchildren every year.

In a country where the average formal education level is 6.2years and only 9 percent of students who start the first grade willfinish high school, the Colégio Engheiro Juarez Wanderley(Juarez Wanderley College of Engineering) is an answer to thedilemma faced by poor but talented students in whom the desirefor an education burns.

Colégio Engheiro is located in a pleasantly rural setting in SãoJose dos Campos, not far from the OEM’s headquarters and mainfactory facilities. The new school, secure within a gated compound,holds spacious and well equipped classrooms, and a basketballcourt gives students a place to burn off adolescent energy.

The school opened in 2004 with one goal, said director of so-cial development Luiz SergioCardoso de Oliveira–to makequality education and profes-sional qualification available toeconomically disadvantaged andtalented students.

Today, the school admits 200new students annually into itsthree-year high school program,where they attend school ninehours a day. Free transportation toand from school, school uni-forms, books and lunch areamong the benefits.

The typical student’s fatherhas an income of about $150 amonth, said Oliveira, “and someof our students had never been toa movie.” There are approxi-mately 25 applicants for each opening at the school. Candidatesmust have attended public schools in the São Jose dos Camposregion for at least the four preceding years, exhibit an ability tothink clearly, display a willingness to learn and participate incompetitive testing. “We want students who want to learn, whowant to be educated,” he said.

While the core curriculum is similar to that taught in a typicalhigh school, Colégio Engheiro takes an in-context, consequence-learning approach that emphasizes the practical value of an educa-

A student takes advantage of thetechnology in WanderleyCollege’s classrooms.

Embraer Institute: Where Education Is the Future

of realizing its potential, according to observers.Embraer’s Affonso noted that “Latin America’s

aging fleet is ripe for replacement, both turbopropsand older business jets” and that his company an-ticipates demand for more than 450 new businessjets over the next decade.

Asociación Latinoamericana de Aeronáuticapresident Rois-Méndez also noted that the busi-ness aircraft fleet listed as in service in LatinAmerica is “considerably” lower than the actualnumber. Many aircraft owned by Latin Americanindividuals and corporations are regis-tered in the U.S. It’s for a variety of rea-sons, from avoiding high import andasset taxes to ensuring that the aircraftretains its value for resale and minimiz-ing insurance premiums. Those air-planes, he said, are not included in theLatin American fleet. Neither are N-registered airplanes sold to a U.S. bro-ker for export to Latin America as theyare not listed as a foreign sale.

Gulfstream’s Sperry noted that busi-ness in the region has been expandingglobally, resulting in greater demand forlarge-cabin, long-range business jets. The G350 of-fers nonstop flight from São Paulo to Miami. TheG550 has the legs to go nonstop from Sao Paulo toMoscow. In fact, it holds the world speed record be-tween the two cities, flying 6,551 nm from São Pauloto Moscow in 14 hours 12 minutes, with sufficientfuel reserves for another hour-and-a-half.

According to Bombardier’s Robello, “We have

completed sales in countries in which we haven’t beenbefore and are still strong in traditional markets suchas Mexico and Brazil.”

Market development in Latin America, he said,“will continue to be driven by the region’s economicactivity, therefore we expect to sell increased numbersof Learjets for regional needs and Challengers andGlobals for customers who need to fly farther to con-

duct their business.”ABAG executive vice president Adal-

berto Febeliano listed four factors he be-lieves will affect the growth of businessaviation in Latin America. “It is not the rateof growth, but a continued steady growth ofthree to four percent a year,” he said. Thereis also the fact that the currencies of LatinAmerican countries are stronger, he ex-plained, “particularly against the dollar, soairplanes have become relatively [less ex-pensive for] Latin American buyers.” Athird factor is the advent of the VLJ, whichwill find a ready market in Latin America.

The fourth factor, he said, is particularly Brazil-ian. “We used to have three major cities: Belo Hori-zonte, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Then, in the1970s, the government decided to encourage devel-opment in other parts of the country.”

Now there are other economic centers inBrazil–Fortaleza, Manaus with its tax-free zone,

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Dignitaries untie ribbons to celebrate the opening of LABACE in São Paulo in August.

Adalberto Febeliano,ABAG executive v-p

tion. “Being accepted to university is secondary to being a think-ing, thoughtful person with the ability to adjust to changing tech-nologies and job availabilities,” said Oliveira.

The result is a school that already rates among the top three inSão Paulo province, typically rated “below private schools but far

above public schools.” For the 2006-07year, it ranked 18th among the bestschools in all of Brazil.

Colégio Engheiro is also less expen-sive to run than the public schools, cost-ing approximately $240 a month perstudent to operate, compared with theaverage of $500 per student in SãoPaulo and $620 a month in Brasilia.Funding for the school last year wasslightly less than $3.5 million, all of itfrom Embraer.

The school can also point to a 100-percent graduation rate as proof ofsuccess, and to a 2007 graduatingclass of 200 students, all of whom

scored well enough on the highly competitive vestibular entranceexams to be admitted into Brazil’s free university system.

More important, Embraer hopes to see its approach to edu-cation become an example at a nationwide level. “We considerthis school successful,” concluded Oliveiro, “to the extent thatwe are copied.” –K.J.H.

Luiz Sergio Cardoso deOliveira, director of socialdevelopment at the school

The campus of the College of Engineering in São Jose dos Campos.

Porto Alegre and Recife. “Withthe decentralization of the econ-omy, the first need is for transportof goods and the second need isfor the transportation of people.

But these centers are not yet at-tracting regular airline service,and so it becomes a business avi-ation market because people stillhave to go there.”

It is an assessmentwith which Embraer’sAffonso agrees. “In-vestment in the avia-tion infrastructure inany country is impor-tant, and that lack ofinvestment is creatinga crisis in Brazil as thedemand for air trans-portation grows and

the number of aircraftin service grows.”

In August, Affonsonoted that 50 percentof the jet fleet in LatinAmerica is at least 20years old, representing“a huge opportunity”for OEMs.

“Our surveys indi-cate there will be 150

new aircraft delivered in LatinAmerica in the next two years,”said Febeliano. He also notedmarket possibilities in Argentina,“which is now emerging from atremendous economic crisis.”Chile, he added, is a small but de-veloping market.

What are the hot markets forbusiness aircraft in Latin Amer-ica? Affonso points out that of1,045 business jets in service inLatin America, about 87 percentof them are in Brazil, Mexicoand Venezuela.

Brandão further points outthat the market for helicopters ishot, hot, hot.

“There are roughly 1,100 heli-copters in service in Brazil, andabout 460 of them in São Paulo,”he said. “And there are about 200rooftop helipads in São Paulo, withmore being built all the time.”

A year ago at the FarnboroughAir Show, Ocean Air signed as arepresentative of AgustaWestlandand expected to sell 60 helicop-ters in five years. A year later,said Brandão, “We had sold 35,most of them in Brazil, and mostof those in São Paulo.

“Nobody is complaining aboutmarket demand for helicopters.The only complaint they have isthat the backlog is slowing downdeliveries,” he said.

Aquino said, “We’re trying tofind used helicopters because wecan’t find new ones.” He addedthat the first half of 2010 is the ear-liest delivery date for Bell. TAM iscurrently awaiting delivery of twoBell 407s and a Bell 430.

Aquino himself has a half-share in a Robinson R44 anduses it for meetings and to carryvisiting customers between theservice center at Junjiai and thecompany’s offices at CongonhasInternational. By helicopter, it isabout a 15-minute flight. Butwith the traffic congestion typi-cal of São Paulo, the same tripby car can take an hour or more.

As for the overall businessaircraft market, Febeliano is op-timistic. Business aviation inLatin America will continue togrow, he said, but at a slowerpace than in North America andEurope. The growth, he added,will be at a pace the Latin Amer-ican economies can support.

“We see a bright future in LatinAmerica,” said Duhnke of Cessna.“There are market forces at play inLatin America that we’ve seen inAsia.” Those market forces are theneed to travel where you want to,when you want to, and not be heldhostage by airline routes, sched-ules, delays and cancellations. o

Teresa Cepinho contributed tothis report on Latin Americanbusiness aviation.

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TAM’s Rui Aquino

BUSINESS AVIATIONgathers momentum

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Latin American business aviation might bebooming, but the region remains turbulent as thedominant player, Brazil, struggles to implementnew air traffic management technology, de-politi-cize military and civilian aviation and ATC, andcomply with international safety standards.

According to the director of an internationalhandling company, “Brazil is the major player,and problems in the region will domino untilBrazil gets its act together.”

Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foun-dation, told AIN, “Corporate aviators are nervousas a cat about flying down there.”

“The safety culture is clearly lacking,” said oneU.S.-based corporate pilot who frequently flies inthe region, adding, “There is a cowboy mentality.”

Two well publicized crashes within a year ofeach other have laid bare Brazil’s ongoing avia-tion infrastructure and ATC problems. Most re-cently, on July 17 a TAM Airbus A320 on landingoverran the 6,360-foot runway at São Paulo’sdowntown Congonhas airport, killing all aboard.Ongoing refurbishment of the runway was unfin-ished when the crash occurred.

On September 29 last year, a Gol TransportesAeros Boeing 737-800 collided with an ExcelAireEmbraer Legacy 600 over the state of MatoGrosso, killing all 154 aboard the 737 when both

aircraft were apparently assigned the same alti-tude by Brazilian ATC. The U.S.-registered Legacylanded safely, but its pilots were detained for 71days before being released and now might facemanslaughter charges. The aircraft remains inBrazilian custody as “evidence.”

At the opening session of LABACE, NBAA pres-ident and CEO Ed Bolen used this accident–and itsaftermath–to decry the trend toward “criminaliza-tion” of aviation accidents and its “chilling effect”on the industry.

Controller UnrestSome U.S. pilots who travel to Brazil report

that in the wake of the Gol-Legacy midair, someBrazilian controllers are taking punitive measuresagainst N-numbered corporate aircraft in theirairspace. One U.S. operator reported that radiocalls to Brazilian ATC repeatedly went unan-swered and that when it finally did respond itchanged their arrival into Rio three or four times“right down to the final approach.”

A subsequent investigation of the Gol-Legacycrash revealed that the air force initially tried tofabricate key data about the crash. Defense Min-ister Waldir Pires was recently terminated in theaftermath and for his perceived culpability in on-going controller labor strife.

Over the last year, Brazilian controllers havestaged numerous “work-to-rule” slowdowns,walkouts and other job actions to protest faultyequipment, understaffing and other objectionableworking conditions.

“Brazil’s ATC is all messed up,” said a direc-tor of a major international handling company.Voss echoed those sentiments. “It’s in totalmeltdown,” he said. “I worry about politics get-ting in the way of safety.”

Brazil’s ATC politics center on who will controlthe system, the military or the civilian government.

By last December, problems with ATC hadhalted operation at several key airports for days.Brazilian Air Force jets, including the President’s737, were used to transport stranded passen-gers. Brazil banned charter flights from operatingat the country’s airports during peak hours. Thesituation continued to deteriorate.

By March, fueled by frequent equipmentbreakdowns, understaffing and poor workingconditions, controller labor strife grew to thepoint where air traffic in Brazil came to a virtualstandstill as the controllers staged a strike. Thegovernment fired 14 controllers and jailed two.The Brazilian government drafted a contingencyplan that called for 1,000 military controllers toreplace the 2,500 civilian controllers if job actions

continued and for replaced controllers to be sub-jected to military justice. The plan was roundlycriticized inside and outside Brazil.

Marc Baumgartner, president of the Interna-tional Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Associ-ations, faulted the plan for using untrained andunqualified military personnel to replace the civil-ian controllers, saying it amounted to “live exper-iments on the traveling public’s safety.”

The U.S. State Department warned those trav-eling to Brazil to expect significant disruptions,delays, re-routings and cancellations–indefinitely.The International Air Transport Association issueda report branding Brazil’s ATC system “unreliable,unsafe and inefficient” and faulted Brazilian opera-tors for having an accident rate 3.5 times theworld average.

Voss said the situation in Brazil can be fixed,and he sees rays of hope emerging. “Brazil’stechnical people are quite solid and impressive.The problems center around financing the sys-tem and the command chain.”

He cited the nation’s handling of a July radaroutage that lasted several hours as evidence thatthe ATC system is improving. “They put airplaneson the ground, sent them to different airports, orput them into holding patterns–just the way youare supposed to do it.” –M.H.

Accidents Shine Spotlight on Larger Problems in Brazilian ATC and Aviation Infrastructure