São Paulo – The Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (Labace), a trade fair for the executive aviation industry due this week in the city of São Paulo, should generate US$ 400 million in business deals. The projection was made by the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag), in charge of organising the fair. Last year, the fair generated revenues of US$ 350 million.
This year, Labace will run from Thursday (13th) to Saturday (15th) and, according to the event’s promoters, it will consolidate Brazil as a promising market for new and used aircraft. The trend for Brazil to be the next major player in the global aviation industry was detected in June this year, during the Paris Air Show, in France.
“At the moment, among the BRICs, Brazil is the focus of executive aviation industries,” says Rui Aquino, the president of Abag. Brazil has a fleet of 12,178 aircraft and is receiving investment in the sector. The French Dassault Falcon, for instance, is going to open a service centre in the city of Sorocaba, in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Eurocopter, also from France, announced that it is going to establish a new factory to make the EC 725 in Brazil, by means of its subsidiary in the country.
The Abag, which promotes the fair, was established in 1995. It is part of the Board of Advisors to the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) and counts on 93 affiliated companies, including aircraft operators and maintenance companies, law firms, insurance brokers, air taxi and consultancy firms. Labace takes place in the Congonhas airport.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
