Brazil’s first private airport is authorized to operate international flights

After receiving private investments of around R$ 700 million, the São Paulo Catarina International Executive Airport, in São Roque (SP), became on June 24 the first private terminal to receive authorization from the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) to operate international flights.

The authorization was granted during an event at the terminal, attended by the Minister of Infrastructure Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Marcelo Sampaio, and ANAC Director-President, Juliano Noman. Read the designation ordinance (avaliable only in Portuguese).

It is the first private international airport in Brazil to operate as a public aerodrome under the authorization regime with permission to land aircrafts coming from other countries and takeoffs from outside Brazil.

STRUCTURE - Catarina airport has a capacity for 200 thousand landings and takeoffs per year and all the necessary infrastructure to receive, comfortably and safely, intercontinental jets such as the Global 7500 and 8000 from Bombardier, Falcon 6X, 8X and 10X from Dassault Falcon Jet, Legacy 650 and Lineage from Embraer and G650 and G700 from Gulfstream.

Developed and operated by JHSF Participações, SP Catarina was inaugurated in December 2019 and reached full hangar capacity in the first year of operation. Thus, at the end of 2020, the project’s expansion plan was anticipated in about one year, increasing the capacity to 16 thousand square meters distributed in five large and modern hangars and more than 39 thousand square meters of yard.

The change to an international airport will allow takeoffs and landings of international flights in the same terminal where the aircraft is based, reducing costs and the time it takes to fly to other airports. The change also facilitates domestic and international arrivals and departures, with the use of contiguous patios.

INVESTMENTS - Tarcisio highlighted the importance of private investments in infrastructure projects, especially in a scenario of restricted public budgets. For the minister, this participation has been fundamental to the success of the concessions program led by MInfra, which has already transferred 70 assets in the sector to the private sector.

“We are also taking infrastructure investment to regional aviation and resources from the National Civil Aviation Fund (FNAC) to support public-private partnerships in smaller airports, including those in the interior of the Amazon region,” added Tarcisio.

With information from the Special Communication Advisory of the Ministry of Infrastructure.