Airline Operations - Guarulhos, Conganhas and Viracopos Airports - Case Study Example

Name: xxxxxxxxx Tutor: xxxxxxxxx Title: Airline Operations Institution: xxxxxxxxx Date due: xxxxxxxxx Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 One City Three Airports 3 Introduction 3 Guarulhos Airport 3 Congonhas Airport 8 Terminal features 10 Transportation 11 Security and wellbeing 12 Viracopos Airport 13 The weakness of the three airports being situated in one city 16 The strengths of the three airports being situated in one city 16 Conclusion and Recommendations 17 Guarulhos Airport 18 Congonhas Airport 18 Viracopos Airport 19 Bibliography 19 One City Three Airports Introduction Close to eleven million people are residents of Sao Paulo making it to be the largest city in Brazil and the seventh largest metropolitan area in the whole world. Sao Paulo is one of the main South America finance, arts and business centers. The establishment and development of the three airports in Sao Paulo can be attributed to the increase in population and accelerated economic activities this state. The three airports make Sao Paulo to be among the busiest places in Latin America. This paper looks at the three airports in Sao Paul: Guarulhos, Conganhas and Viracopos Airports dwelling on their features, services provided, destination served, the size, expansion and development including the strengths and weakness of the three airports being situated in one city. Guarulhos Airport Guarulhos is one of the busiest airports in Brazil in terms of the passengers it handles per annum. The airport is officially named after a former governor of Sao Paulo known as Andre Franco Montoro, but the natives refer to it as Cumbica due to its location. There is more historical implication to this airport than meets the eye. Guarulhos Airport is situated twenty-five kilometers northeast of Sao Paulo. According to Curry (2001) the airport comprises of two terminals which are very close to each other, it is a mere walking distance. The idea of the two terminal being close to each other may pose a logistic problem in the near future when it comes to implementation. Guarulhos Airport is a small city in size. Each day almost hundred thousands people pass through the airport that connects Brazil to twenty eight countries. There are about three hundreds and seventy companies established in this city resulting in the creation of fifty three thousand jobs. This airport is very significant and has more economic bearing to the people living around it as it affects their daily lives directly or indirectly. Guarulhos airport will be one of the airports in Brazil which will be very engaged during the upcoming 2014 world cup. It therefore needs urgent construction of addition terminals to deal with the influx of more passengers. The idea of creating additional terminals TPS3 and TPS4 is very timely and if the project is completed before the world cup it will do a lot of good to Brazil as the country will be a destination to numerous visitors during the world cup. To effectively compete on the international front there must be major improvement on the airport that will make it stand out as unique and spectacular. There is need to enhance the level of security within and around the airport to ensure that the visitors feel safe visiting Sao Paulo of using it as an entry point into Brazil. There have been so many cases of crime in Sao Paulo and other cities in Brazil due to increased levels of poverty making many people to be involved in crime. Safety in the airports is a selling point particularly to people who have never visited the town before. The government has to work on this issue urgently if it is set to host the world cup in 2014. The visitors who are expected to flock into Brazil in 2014 will leave will a good impression about the country if everything goes well. Security issues have adverse implications on the visitors trooping into the country on business trips or for tourism purposes. Having a capacity of serving fifteen million passengers annually in the two terminals, the airport presently handles twelve million passengers. The airport’s master plan project which is at a tendering stage will take off in due course. The airport is one of the major air cargo hubs in Brazil. The daily flights are roughly a hundred per day and carry everything from fruits to sophisticated medicine created by science. Guarulhos Airport cargo terminal is the largest in South America and comes second to that of Mexico City in the whole of Latin America. In the year 2003 about 75,000 metric tons of freight went through this terminal. This is a major make of development in the state of Sao Paulo as it is opened up to the world. This is a major airport in Latin America and the expansion of it turns it into a force to reckon with. This airport has increased tourism activities in Brazil (Boelens, 2009). The airport is currently in a massive redevelopment that includes the construction of a third runaway and the development of a third terminal which is expected to be ready before the World cup tournament that will be hosted in Brazil in 2014. There are considerations to build an express rail between the city and the airport. Generally the Guarulhos Airport is well equipped and competes well will other airports in the region and in the continent as a whole. When all the expansions are complete, the airport will be a major boost to the economy of Brazil. All these developments should be in pace with the demand of passengers and cargo that pass through the airport, and the airport has the capacity of handling it. The two terminals of the airport are served by Brazilian airlines TAM, Gol, Varig and by international flights from Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, United Kingdom, American, Delta, TAP, TACA, Alitalia, Iberia, JAL, Korean Air and South African. Non-airline shuttle buses are available connecting Congonhas Airport to Guarulhos Airport and also Praca da Republica, Jardins region, Tietes bus station and Barra Funda bus station. The two main Brazilian airlines GoL and TAM provide shuttle buses for their passengers with flights from Conganhas Airport and Guarulhos International Airport. All lines save for Congonhas connect to the Metro. There is availability of constant bus every twenty to thirty minutes and goes to and from Tatuape Metro station. Exit terminal one arrivals head for the middle islands. One may be denied access having a luggage that would not fit on his lap. Guarocoop which is a taxi cooperative has a monopoly on cabs exiting Guarulhos. Considering the airlines that serve this airport it will be apt to conclude that is a major airport that serves South America. It will be very prudent to scrutinize the path taken by an airline before it is granted access to the airport just for security reasons. Rail connection to the airport is not present but a shuttle bus that connects it to Sao Paulo train station exists. The quickest way of reaching the airport should be devised in order to avoid panicky and frustration behavior among the potential customers. According to Mobile Reference (2007), the airport can be easily accessed by bus and car. There are numerous accommodations nearby despite there not being a hotel at the airport. There is a variety of restaurants, ATMs, banks with de change facilities, 24-hour post office, luggage trolleys, fast aid equipments, pharmacies, and shop. The airport has meeting and office rooms equipped with all kinds of facilities. The lounges are well equipped with modern comforts including laptop charging facilities. Wireless internet is also available in both terminals. There is tourist information desk of the arrival floor of the two terminals and more so there are Infraero information counters on the two terminals. These advancements are a major attraction to the passengers who opt to use this airport as an interconnection or as a major port. Modern equipment and facilities found in the airport precinct is a boost to the general ranking of airport accorded by the customer through positioning. Guarulhos is one of the popular gateways for weekends. Airlines refer to Guarulhos airport with the code GRU. Guarulhos airport is mostly used by low cost airlines for domestic, transcontinental and international flights. Guarulhos commenced its operations in the year 1985 and has grown to become a busy airport in Brazil. In the year 2008 it handled more than 20 million passengers and about one hundred and ninety-four thousands movements of aircrafts. The airport is always open around the clock daily (Curry, 2001). Despite the fact that Guarulhos Airport is ranked as good on the regional standards in Latin America, there is a lot more that can be done to ensure that the airport receives or is recognized internationally. The government should relinquish the mandate of improving this airport to the private sector, who, according to history has resulted in efficiency and effectiveness. Congonhas Airport Congonhas Airport is located at central place which is approximately fifteen kilometers from downtown. The airport deals with most domestic flights including Sao Paulo. The airport has a simple but glamorous architecture creating an attractive sight. The fastest way to Congonhas is by using any of the regular line buses that operate in Paulista Ave. It takes to close to forty minutes to one hour in modest traffic to arrive at the airport. In the year 2010 the airport was ranked second in terms of transported passengers and operations of aircrafts and tenth in terms of the cargo handled in Brazil making it one of the busiest airports in Brazil (Boelens, 2009). The fact that a potential passenger takes up to forty five to reach the airport, it requires more research to come up with an alternative means and route of reaching the airport. If this is established more passengers will be attracted to use the airport. Congonhas Airport presently operates a slot restriction of a maximum of thirty operations per every hour. The airport name emanated from a plant that was common in the area where the airport was constructed. Congonhas Airport was initially planned in the year 1919 but it did not commence operation until on 12th September 1936. By the year 1957 the airport was the world’s third busiest in freight and cargo. The central hall of the passenger terminal is regarded as one of the most magnificent illustration of modern day architecture. Despite of the modernization overhaul it has maintained its old architectural design. The view from the landing approach to Congonhas Airport forms a spectacular sight with the aircraft flowing very low over large clusters of tall skyscrapers particularly when the plane approaches from the northern side. The airport has a special design making it to be easily recognized. The development of airports in Sao Paulo began early before other countries had even developed a single airport. This development has contributed in the economic growth of Brazil as a nation. Congohonhas Airport has a total area of 1,647,000 square meters and one terminal area of 51,535 square meters area. There are two runaways at the airport. Passenger traffic in the year 2008 was 13, 672, 301 while that of aircraft movement was 186, 694. The airport is presently the third busiest airport in the world in terms of freight and cargo. The airport is operated and owned by INFRAERO which is a company owned by the Brazilian government. Initially the passenger handling capacity was 6 million and it has expanded gradually to the present capacity of 17.5 million passengers annually. Better weather conditions and longer runaways at Guarulhos Airport inaugurated in 1985 prompted the restriction of Congonhas international domestic flight operations. Initially the airport operated direct international flights to countries neighboring Brazil such as Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay together with intercontinental flights switching planes at Rio De Janeiro-Galeao International Airport. International flights were later directed to Guarulhos. Congonhas is connected to Guarulhos airport by means of a shuttle (Simmonds & Hack, 2000). Improvement work at Congonhas Airport terminal commenced in August in the year 2003. Enlargement and overhauling work were targeted towards accommodating the surging traffic of passengers. The process of modernization was completed in three stages. The first stage comprised of the construction of new boarding lounges, 12 boarding bridges, four departure gates, a parking lot for 3400 cars, and a new arrival area with five baggage carousels. The second stage comprised of the installation of elevators, escalators, a baggage handling system, an underground passageway and overpasses for buses and taxis. It was duly completed in the year 2006. The third stage which comprised of construction of a tunnel connecting the airport to Avenida Washington Luis was accomplished in the year 2007. The construction of the tunnel reduced the traffic of pedestrian in front of the airport. The work also encompassed the construction of a light rail vehicle line which is integrated with the Sao Paulo Metro system. Terminal features The entire project of overhauling was completed in the year 2007 and cost $33million. The area of the airport terminal was expanded from 37,300 square meters to over 51000 square meters in the year 2006. In January the same year the project obtained about R$1.1 billion from the Board of National Bank of Economic and Social Development for passenger terminal modernization. A railway line which will extend between the Barra Funda station and the airport terminal and include five stations is still under construction. Congonhas Airport has a single passenger terminal that has a central hall that features stylish architecture. The amenities on the terminal include three bookshops, a gift and tobacco shop, a perfume store, and a photo shop. The service and product stores are forty nine in number. The other features include: retail outlets, conference and business facilities, duty free shops, a currency exchange, facilities for disabled, and communication facilities (Blore & Vries, 2009). The terminal also has restaurants, bars, ATMs and banks. Congonhas Airport is Wi-Fi enabled. The airport has two runaways: 17L/35R and 17R/35L. The length of the runaway 17L/35R is 1,435 meters while that of 17R35L is 1,940 meters. The runaways are situated at an elevation of 2,631 ft. The fact that it has a single terminal limits the operations of this airport making the other airports to have an advantage over it. More developments have to be done on the airport to expand its operations. Accessibility and security have to be the defining factors as future expansion is contemplated. Transportation Congonhas Airport provides taxis, limousines and shuttles. A bus service connects the airport with Guarulhos Airport. Public transport buses are also present. Taxi counters that are prepaid can be found near the arrivals area. The limousine companies’ services can be booked online. Congonhas Airport features a single car parking facility near Avenida Washington Luiz. Long term and short term parking is also offered. The car park and the terminal are linked with a public transport. Parking garage of area 61,000 square meters was constructed in January in the year 2006. Packing spaces that are reserved are offered at Congonhas Airport. As compared to other airport, transport at Congonhas Airport is more efficient and expedient. There is need to make it more appealing. Security and wellbeing The airport has been tormented with runaways that are slippery occasioning several accidents where the contributing factor has been accumulation of water. The approach path that is situated in areas that are densely populated result into noise making safety concerns to rise further. The biggest aircrafts operating at Congonhas Airport are Airbus A320 (TAM) and Boeing 737-800 (GoL). Following the TAM 3054 flight accident and the outcry from the public, the airport changed its operations significantly by reducing landing slots and imposing restrictions of flight connections and distance. This resulted in the reduction of maximum allowable gross weight of landing aircraft hence increasing safety (Blore & Vries, 2009). With the impending World Cup being hosted in Brazil in 2014 it will be necessary that Congonhas Airport will have to be upgraded to handle more of international flights in order to ease the congestion that will be witnessed in the other airports terminal when the visitors start streaming in prior to the world cup kick off. The constraint of space is the only impending factor that will limit the expansion of Congonhas Airport. Brazil being a developing nation still has many economic challenges to deal with and it struggles to beat the deadline for the world cup. Whereas the world cup is a challenge, it will be a blessing in disguise as many terminals of airports will be developed and the general efficiency of airport transport is bound to grow at a rapid pace. The imminence of more funding and foreign exchange being pumped into Brazil will develop the airports in Sao Paulo at a quick pace. The University of Sao Paulo makes the city to have many international students who come in for academic exchange programs. Major improvements to the airport will lead to more operations at the airport. Viracopos Airport Viracopos is situated fourteen kilometers from downtown in the outskirts of the city of Campinas in the state of Sao Paulo which is the most developed Brazilian state. Campinas is located ninety nine kilometers away from the city of Sao Paulo which is the capital of the state and the largest city in the entire Brazil. It is also one hundred and ninety kilometers away from the largest seaport in the country, Santos Seaport (Graham, Papatheodorou, & Forsyth, 2010). Campinas is inhabited with about four million residents and comprises of twenty-three other cities that play an important role in the economic realm not only in the Sao Paulo state but more so in the entire Latin America. Viracopos International Airport is one of the Brazil’s important airports. The airport is second in importance in Brazil and is about fifty five miles north of the city of Sao Paulo. The airport which was opened in the year 1960 is situated ten miles South West of the city centre. Both Guarulhos Airport and Congonhas Airport have attained their limits in their capacities and INFRAERO, Brazilian Civil aviation authority, has opted to expand Viracopos Airport in order to cater for the needs of the growing air traffic in the region. Commencing from the early 1990s Viracopos has grown into a hub of increasing significance for cargo airliners. With the increased demand there should be urgency in the development and expansion plans. Streamlining of passengers and cargo processes and other development plans have been put in place by INFRAERO to turn the airport into a national reference for air transport. The revamping of Viracopos Airport has been practical and it is in line with the development of Campinas Metropolitan Region whereby above four thousands manufacturing companies come up with an amazing range of products from computers to telecommunications and from electronics to automobiles. More than six hundreds of these companies export their products to all parts of the world. The airport joins Campinas with various cities in Brazil and more so it operates international flights for about twenty airliners. The operations of the airport have had an impressive growth in the past years. The number of take-offs, landing and flights grew by seventy one percent in 2009 as compared to that of 2008 while the passenger numbers double in the same period. In the same period the cargo volume slowed down by nineteen percent as compared to 2008. VIRACOPOS AIRPORT OPERATION EVOLUTION AIRPLANES CARGO PASSENGERS Year No of Flights Year Tons Year Quantity 2002 40.551 2002 173.158 2002 787.161 2003 26.997 2003 169.635 2003 654.768 2004 24.584 2004 235.896 2004 717.362 2005 25.716 2005 179.483 2005 816.599 2006 25.107 2006 178.797 2006 816.599 2007 29.226 2007 238.044 2007 1006.059 2008 32.399 2008 233.699 2008 1083.878 2009 55.261 2009 189.707 2009 3364.245 Flights that are regular from Campinas-Viracopos Aiport are presently being operated by GOL Linhas Aereas. Viracopos commenced operations in the 1940s as a simple landing ground for the city of Campinas. In the year 1960 it was developed with a long strip and it started operating commercial airlines regularly such as Real, VASP and Varig. In the 1970s it became an international airport for Sao Paulo owing to the fact that Congonhas Airport runaway was too short for huge jet planes used in the international passenger traffic. Guarulhos Airport gained dominance owing to its capability to provide more advanced facilities and Viracopos got into a phase of stagnation for a decade. Most of domestic flights and all of the international flights were transferred to Congonhas and Guarulhos Airports (Dempsey, 2000). The airport administration has constantly invested in the implementation of the master plan that geared towards giving the airport a new look. The first stage of the new master plan of the airport involved making major improvements to passenger and cargo terminals in an effort to recognize the strategic significance of Varicopos to the economy. The first stage of the master plan was accomplished the first half of 2004 when the airport got new arrival and departure lounges, commercial concessions and public areas. The second stage targeting expansion of terminal was accomplished in the year 2005 and constructed was a new control tower, processing facilities for cargo terminal, and expanded storage and revamped totally the passenger terminal. The three airports work independently but rely on each other since each of them is specialized in a given area. The weakness of the three airports being situated in one city The presence of three airports in Sao Paulo with close to 33 millions of people passing through the airport in 2005 makes the city to have the most congested airspace in the Southern Hemisphere and Latin America. The many aircrafts that land and take off and the various airports increases air pollution and noise pollution. The rising skyscrapers into the air are a cause of concern and can result into terrible accidents in bad weather due to obscurity. Unplanned development and expansion of the cities harboring the airports has led to urban congestion. More people are trooping to Sao Paulo for greener pastures in terms of employment and better life has leading to overpopulation and its accompanying consequences such strain on social amenities, increased level of crime and illegal drug involvement, housing problem, and increased chances of recurrence of communicable diseases and generally decreasing standards of healthcare. The strengths of the three airports being situated in one city The development and expansions of the three airports has brought more significance to the state of Sao Paulo economically. Thousands of jobs have been created from the construction of the airports, their maintenance and expansions. It has also led to expansion the cities of Sao Paulo as it attracts more investors due to its accessibility by means of air transport that is fastest. Greenspan, Gill, and O'Malley (2010) state that most of the manufacturing and production companies have been constructed in Sao Paulo for the products to be easily transported to the ready market in the global market. With more creation of jobs and business booming in this state, this has led to the standard of living going up. The three airports have increased the connectivity of cities in Sao Paulo and other cities in Brazil and the entire world. Developing fast technology has led to easy accessibility of education and the ability to reach out to opportunities in other parts of the world. Conclusion and Recommendations The idea of having a good airport transport system is a major step towards economic development. A nation or region becomes economically competitive and accessible to other major places. Measures of development are likely to create concern as well as advantages. The three airports in Sao Paulo are a spectacle that turns the state into a hub of activities and a formidable commercial centre. The expansion of the state comes with a mixture of realizations that could be a real challenge to the state and its people. One of the major factors that should be put into consideration by both the government and other stakeholders is an enhanced level of security within and around the airports. This will guarantee the visitors visiting Sao Paulo the needed safety. Safety in the airport is a major selling point therefore measures should be put in place to ensure that there is a highly developed level of security. Improved levels of development and security checks will ensure that the standards of living are improved. The three airports will lead to increased connectivity of the cities in Sao Paulo together with other cities both in Brazil and other places in the global map. Investing in modern technology will help in promoting development. A well coordinated approach and adequate implementation of the plans can ensure that the airports attain the required standards. The specific recommendation for the three airports is as follows: Guarulhos Airport The construction of two additional terminals in the airport has to be fast-tracked to deal with the imminent surge in the number of passengers that will be visiting the country due to the World Cup and the increase in tourist activities owing to effective marketing. The terminals have to be very specific concerning what they will be saving so that traffic at the airport is quickened up. The construction of the express rail joining the airport to the city has also to be done quickly to increase the accessibility of the airport to the city and consequently make it easy for passengers. Congonhas Airport The accessibility to this airport is cumbersome and heavy traffic when using a bus can delay someone leading to him missing the flight. This makes the potential passenger to panic and be very exhausted as they struggle to reach the airport in time. There is need to create alternative routes of reaching the airport apart from the bus. The design and architecture of the airport is very old and there is need of coming up with a modern style that will be appealing to more passengers and the-would be passengers. It is also important to create additional terminals to cater for increased demand of passengers. Accessibility and the security are the factors affecting this airport and all effort should be done to address the concerns raised. The runways that are slippery are threats to passengers and experts should be asked to fix the problem. No one is willing to risk his dear life when there are alternative airports. Viracopos Airport This is the airport has a chance of being expanded further due to the limitation of the other airport. This expansion plans have to be implemented quickly to cater for increased traffic of passengers into Brazil. In order to have more airlines operating in the airport there is need for substantial expansion. This will attract more international airlines and the destination served by the airport will increase. It will be more appropriate if the three airports are managed with different entities instead of relying on INFRAERO for the management of the airports. To achieve quality and efficiency there is need that the independent management bodies be private entities. Private entities are able to deliver quality work within strict timelines. The airports will be a big boost to the economy of Brazil and its connectivity to the rest of the world. Bibliography Blore, S. & Vries, A., 2009, Frommer's Brazil. New York: Frommer's, 2010 Cwerner, S., 2009, Aeromobilities. London: Taylor & Francis, 2009 Neufville, R.D., 2003, Airport systems: planning, design, and management. 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