Brazil: Chaos At Latin America’s Largest Gateway Airport
Freight operations at Guarulhos Airport (GRU) in São Paulo, Latin America’s largest air cargo gateway, are coming under severe pressure due to an overflow of cargo.
Air freight groups, including carriers, have requested intervention from the federal government, asking them to impose emergency measures that avoid the complete collapse of operational services through the airport.
Recent video footage has highlighted warehouses overflowing with cargo and hundreds of pallets being stored outside, with some even occupying aircraft parking positions.
According to the freight groups, warehouses cannot physically take any more cargo and one carrier has more than 600 full airline units still awaiting to be processed.
In a collective letter to the government, they state “This situation has reached its peak, generating an unsustainable and chaotic situation, with imminent risk of collapse of air operations and impacts on safety in the main Brazil airport.”
Some airlines had to temporarily suspend operations at GRU due to similar circumstances in December last year, when many air freight shipments were delayed by up to two weeks.
