With the clock ticking toward the start of next year’s World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, construction is set to begin on São Paulo’s first business airport, which is expected to help handle the influx of private aircraft for the event. Approximately 40 miles from the city, vegetation has been cleared from the future site of the Catarina Aeroporto Executivo’s 8,100-foot main runway and a shorter companion, and bulldozers are scheduled to arrive mid-month when earthmoving permits are issued.

“We’re on schedule to receive international business jet traffic for the 2014 World Cup,” Francisco Lyra, president of C>Fly Aviation, the partner on the project with major contractor JHSF, told AIN. A legal hurdle remains to be cleared, as current legislation doesn’t permit the commercial operation of private airports. “The draft of the Presidential decree has been approved by the finance and civil aviation ministries,” said Lyra. “We expect it will be announced at the right political moment. The project is gold, and it’s the moment to invest.”