A perennial question at LABACE is where the fair will be held the following year. Federal airport administration company Infraero controls Congonhas, the current site, and each year the norm is for ABAG to finally get a signed contract only a few months before the fair takes place. This year, the wingspan of the ATR exhibited by Star emphasized how cramped the Congonhas space is, when it had to be brought in right through the hangar. So, isn’t there an alternative to Congonhas?
There is a second downtown São Paulo airport, Campo de Marte, across the street from the city’s main convention center, Anhembi. On the Friday before this year’s LABACE, Embraer chose Campo de Marte to show the Legacy 450 to journalists.
There are obstacles, however: Campo de Marte is the city’s first and oldest airport, and no one knows how much weight the runway will bear–though it does handle Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force aeronautic material park which is located there. The 1,600-meter (5,250-ft) runway is shorter than Congonhas’s 1,900 meters, and operates only VFR.
AIN spoke at LABACE with JP Martins Aviação, which is celebrating 50 years at Campo de Marte. It operates two hangars and is the exclusive representation of Piper in Brazil. ABAG alternate counsellor Paulo Martins told AIN, “Congonhas has always been the choice, for its commercial appeal. An Airbus or a Boeing Business Jet couldn’t land at Campo de Marte. But Marte is operable for nearly all the other aircraft at LABACE. If for some reason Congonhas can’t be used, Campo de Marte is the first alternative.”
Paulo Martins described a firm emblematic of much of Brazilian business aviation. Paulo’s brother Jeremias de Paula Martins flew for the first time at the age of eight in a Piper, learned to fly at the same Aeroclub de São Paulo where the Legacy 450 was shown off on Friday, got a law degree and came to represent Piper in the state. Later, it became the brand’s exclusive distributor in Brazil.
Besides selling Pipers, JP Martins has Brazil’s oldest aviation maintenance shop and the largest parts department in Latin America, said Paulo. The firm has branches at Santa Genoveva airport in Goiânia, and in Londrina in the state of Paraná.
Asked about the economic crisis, Paulo Martins said, “The current crisis started in the second half of 2014. Usually, every first half is weak, with stronger sales in the second half. We’re hoping that the second half of 2015 will show improvement.” The fluctuating exchange rates of recent months have created additional difficulty, with prices changing day-to-day in the local currency, the Real. On long-term prospects, he spoke more firmly: “Brazil’s strength is in agriculture, it’s what powers the country. In a country of continental dimensions, how can it not have aircraft? And commercial aviation only reaches 120 cities.” Most of his Piper purchasers are from agribusiness, he said, and all are from within Brazil.
Maintenance
The JP Martins maintenance operation is managed by Paulo’s nephew, J.P.’s son, Paulo Nogueira Martins, nickname “Candango.” He said that, traditionally, mechanics came from the Brazilian Air Force. When they left the military they used to go to work for business aviation or the airlines. But in recent years the airlines have been snapping up almost all the FAB mechanics.
Paulo Martins (the elder) added that the firm habitually sends mechanics to be factory trained, by Piper, Lycoming, Continental and other firms. Candango explained other strategies: “We have an arrangement with mechanic schools, who send us their best students for internships. As interns, they can start accumulating the hours they need for a mechanic’s license.” Mechanics trained at the factory then instruct other mechanics at the firm, he said.
Candango confirmed that official curricula and exams are outdated. “The student needs to study twice, once for what they need to pass the exam, and again for what they need to work.” Efforts to update the outdated requirements have so far had no effect, as the sector of ANAC that specifies training isn't that which regulates maintenance shops, he said.
