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| Executive Travel: São Paulo |
Private Aviation
Michelle Seaton
03/01/2006
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Of the helicopter
charter companies available, Wyvern recommends Aero Taxi Marinete (ATM,
+55.21.3328. 1618, www.atmaerotaxi.com.br ), which
operates out of the airport in Rio de Janeiro, but has ample experience flying
in São Paulo. ATM operates two corporate helicopters: a five-passenger and a
six-passenger Sikorsky S-76A. Wyvern also recommends BHS (Brazilian Helicopter
Service, +55.11.3147.4731) which flies an S-76A configured for corporate
passengers, in addition to several helicopters for offshore transportation and
medical rescue. Even if these companies do not have a corporate helicopter
available, they may offer utilitarian helicopters, which are less comfortable,
but certainly as serviceable as the corporate models.
Lamon urges passengers
to vet every charter company in terms of training and adherence to safety
procedures before chartering a helicopter or jet in Brazil. Although Wyvern has
conducted on-site audits of both ATM and BHS, he believes that flight
departments should review each company on a per-flight basis to make sure
maintenance records are complete, to check for any incidents or accidents, and
to ensure that pilot training is current. “In our desk reviews, Wyvern mandates
that the helicopters must have a two-pilot crew and that both pilots must
undergo full motion simulator recurrent training annually in the United States,”
he says.
After arranging security and ground transportation, the rest of the
flight preparations are relatively simple. In Brazil, international flights can
only arrive and depart at international airports. Though São Paulo has three
airports, only one of these, Guarulhos, handles international passengers.
Guarulhos Airport
Sometimes called Cumbica International Airport, after
the suburb it is in, Guarulhos Airport (SBGR) is 14 miles northeast of the city.
Do not let its relative proximity fool you. Traffic congestion is legendary in
São Paulo, as is the congestion within the airport itself.
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