World Cup Hopes to Boost Business Aviation Conference Interest

This years’ EBACE show to be held at São Paulo Congonhas Airport, will be operating under tough conditions as facilities are limited and a large tent at the show entrance will need to be erected. Organising the event has been a catalogue of delays for the Brazilian industry group, Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral (ABAG) during a period of remodelling for the venue.

“We’re working with the expectation that the fair will be smaller this year than in 2013, which was smaller than in 2012. If it’s bigger, it will be only slightly bigger,” said ABAG executive director, Ricardo Nogueira.

Attendees for the show have declined over the past few years, with 13,823 visitors last year compared to 16,722 attendees in 2012, which at the time, was largely attributed to bad weather during the show’s opening days.

This year it is hoped that figures will rise due to the location of the World Cup tournament, which will bring a boost to local business aviation.

“All our airplanes are chartered for the World Cup, there’s a lot customer aircraft activity, and we’re doing a lot of FBO work for international visitors,” said a spokesman for TAM Aviação Executiva.

There is already a shortage in ramp space available during the tournament with 83% of business aviation slots reserved – equating to approximately 89,640 movements out of 108,000. Slots for 1,000 business aircraft have been reserved for the tournament traffic, which is expected to decrease as teams are eliminated.

The building that has been used during previous shows for LABACE conference sessions and registration has been commandeered as a remote terminal for business aviation during the World Cup tournament. Infraero airport authority Investments in this facility should benefit LABACE when it is finally handed over for use by ABAG.