São Paulo – Emirates Airline, from Dubai, and Royal Air Maroc, from Morocco, will start operating in May from the new terminal at the São Paulo International Airport, in Guarulhos. They are among the first airlines which fly to São Paulo that will move from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3. Emirates’ senior vice president for commercial operations in Latin America, Africa and the Indian Ocean, Orhan Abbas, said the new facility will offer more space and comfort to passengers.
The new terminal should be inaugurated in May 11th, one month prior to the FIFA World Cup, which opens on June 12th and whose opening match will take place in São Paulo, in addition to five other matches. This terminal will be the airport’s largest, and exclusively for international flights. It will include shops, restaurants, electronic baggage handling system and capacity for 12 million passengers per year. The new facility will also comprise a VIP hall with a children’s area, a restaurant, a spa, bathrooms with showers and a meeting room.
“We wanted to move to the new terminal quickly. It will be good for us, because there will be more space and comfort than today,” Abbas told ANBA this Tuesday (23rd) during the World Travel Market (WTM) Latin America tourism industry fair, held in São Paulo.
Abbas said the Guarulhos airport still lacks the infrastructure to receive the Airbus A380 aircraft, the world’s largest commercial plane. Currently, the airline flies to Brazil using the Boeing 777-300ER, with capacity for 364 passengers. The airline’s A380 units can accommodate 489 or 517 passengers.
The average occupancy rate of Emirates’ flights leaving from São Paulo ranges from 80% to 90%. The flights that leave from Rio de Janeiro come in from Buenos Aires and boast occupancy rates ranging from 75% to 80%. The aircraft used in this route is of the same model as the one flown to São Paulo.
According to Abbas, Emirates has carried 1 million passengers in flights to Brazil and leaving from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro since it began to operate in the country, in 2007. Out of that total, 30% of the passengers stayed in Dubai, and 70% used the airport for layovers to other destinations.
More flights for the Cup
Royal Air Maroc’s CEO in Brazil, Mehdi El Yaalaoui, who is also attending the WTM, said that in late May, the company will transfer its operations into the new terminal in Guarulhos. “We will have better slots and that will enable us to increase connections to the entire Maghreb (a region in North Africa that comprises Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Algeria and Libya) and Europe,” he said.
According to Yaalaoui, the company should increase the frequency of its weekly flights to Casablanca from two to three, which will allow Royal Air Maroc to take better advantage of the influx of World Cup tourists to Brazil. According to the Air Maroc CEO, in December this year the company will switch its current Boeing 767 aircraft for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in the route between Casablanca and São Paulo.
Yalaaoui told ANBA that WTM Latin America is a good opportunity to introduce the airline to the Brazilian tourism industry. “It is a way for us to increase our market share, since we are contacted by people who are intent on doing business. We also receive journalists, tour operators, and we showcase our destinations and our company. It is an excellent opportunity.”
This is the second edition of WTM Latin America in São Paulo. Among the 1,300 exhibitors participating in the fair, there are also representatives from Egypt, Jordan and Abu Dhabi.
Service
WTM Latin America
Up until Friday, 04/25
Expo Transamérica – Avenida Doutor Mário Vilas Boas Rodrigues, 387, São Paulo, SP
For additional information go to http://www.wtmlatinamerica.com/pt-br/Home/
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
