Air China moves in Sao Paulo

Air China, China's largest aviation enterprise, officially moved to Terminal 3 of the Sao Paulo International Airport (GRU) on Sunday. The new terminal is a part of the infrastructure construction plan of the Brazilian government for the coming 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The Brazilian government announced an R$ 40 billion investment in infrastructure in 2013, including the construction of nine national highways, airports and roads, in order to improve transportation in major cities in Brazil.

"The new terminal is larger than all the other three terminals in GRU combined with a capacity of 12 to14 million passengers," said Tang Wenkai, director of Air China in Brazil.

Sao Paulo International Airport is the largest airport in Latin America with 10 domestic and 41 international carriers, including Air China, American Airlines and Air Europa, using it. According to GRU, about 63 percent of passengers arriving in Brazil land at the airport.

Tang said Air China was pleased with the arrangement and considering adding more airlines connecting China and Brazil. With the coming 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, both of which will be held in Brazil, Air China will add more airlines and switch to larger airplanes to meet the demand.

"We have two airlines each week to Brazil and can take almost 500 passengers. However, the current condition is far from enough to take care of the increasing number of passengers who want to come to Brazil on either travel or business," Tang said.

The new terminal was put in use on May 11. Eight international aviation companies, including Air China andGerman carrier Lufthansa, have moved to the terminal and about 80 percent of international airlines will join them there in the near future.

fanzhang@chinadailyusa.com