'Não há nada mais complexo do que operar um aeroporto': CBN SP apresenta edição especial em Congonhas

April 10, 2026·25 min·2 clips

Yesterday, São Paulo's entire airspace closed for 36 minutes due to a technical panic at the control center.

1. CBN São Paulo presents a special live edition from Congonhas Airport in São Paulo marking the airport's 90th anniversary. 2. Felipe Reis, Director of Institutional Relations, Communication and ESG at AENA Brasil—the concessionaire operating Congonhas—is the sole interview guest. 3. The episode's central question is how Congonhas manages operational complexity and ongoing renovation while maintaining Brazil's busiest domestic air bridge. 4. The previous day, a technical incident at the São Paulo southeast regional airspace control center caused a 36-minute total closure affecting all four major São Paulo area airports: Congonhas, Guarulhos, Viracopos, and Campinas. 5. Smoke was detected near the control tower building adjacent to the airport; there was no fire, the building was evacuated as a precaution, and the cause remains under investigation with no connection to active construction work. 6. Punctuality recovered overnight and the disruption was resolved within approximately one hour, with Reis citing the event as a demonstration of system resilience. 7. In 2025, Congonhas handled 24.5 million passengers, 297,000 aircraft movements, and up to 100,000 people on-site per day including the entire airport community. 8. Reis argues that operating an airport is more complex than running a hospital, and describes renovating the terminal under live operations as 'changing the tire with the car running.' 9. Since AENA took over operations, Congonhas has been in the top 10 most punctual airports globally by size category for two consecutive years, reaching first place at one point; 2025 closed at approximately 82% punctuality. 10. Traffic congestion at the airport entrance has been reduced by 40% through coordination with the municipal traffic authority CET. 11. Security inspection wait times have been under 5 minutes for over 100 consecutive days following an expansion of inspection channels. 12. The airport plans to increase boarding gates from 12 to 19 by the opening of the new terminal in 2028, exceeding the Brazilian aviation industry goal of 70% gate-direct departures; currently 55% of passengers board at a gate and 45% use remote buses. 13. The new terminal will more than double the available commercial area, with plans to include fast food chains and a full spectrum of food and retail options to address current price complaints from passengers. 14. Congonhas is the only airport in Brazil with historic heritage status, which means any renovation of the protected areas requires approval from PRESP, São Paulo's historic preservation body—including a Di Cavalcanti painting called 'The Workers' that requires more than a year of licensing to restore. 15. AENA voluntarily invested 200 million reais in passenger improvements beyond what the concession contract required. 16. International flights are not expected to operate directly from Congonhas before 2028; a connecting service via Galeão Airport—which AENA also won the concession for—could potentially begin in 2027 for regional South American destinations such as Buenos Aires, Montevideo, and Santiago. 17. The broadcast includes live passenger interviews: complaints focus on high food and retail prices, remote boarding buses, and reduced human service interaction; positive feedback centers on convenience, location, and improved punctuality. 18. The format is a live field broadcast with two hosts and a single guest, interspersed with listener messages and spontaneous passenger interviews recorded in the terminal. 19. Frequent business travelers between São Paulo and other Brazilian cities, and aviation infrastructure observers, will find the operational detail most useful. 20. Listeners expecting policy analysis or competitive assessment of Brazilian aviation will find this more useful as an operational profile than as a sector overview.

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