Aerotropolis is the option for Brazilian airports

Currently, the preparation of Brazilian airports for the 2014 World Cup and Olympic Games monopolize the agenda of discussions on the segment. To run against time so there is an efficient infrastructure to receive tourists and handle the domestic flight mobilizes the government and the private sector. But how to enhance these complex airport beyond the completion of these major events? One alternative is to think of them from a concept of multifunctional centers, more sophisticated in terms of branches of service: so called aerotropolis.

The term was defined by the American academic John D. Kasarda, an expert on the subject and author of "Aerotropolis: Airport-Driven Urban Development", a book that describes how the wealth of services targeting allows an airport that has a dynamic that can be considered as a municipal service, in a real city which, apart from airport activity, covering another set of services to operate in an integrated manner, for example, airport development zones / industrial, hotel, catering, logistics, among others.

In Latin America, Brazil may be one of the first countries to have a project of this kind. "The first aerotrópolis in Latin America is already under construction and is located in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais," said Undersecretary of State Development, Luiz Antônio Athayde Vasconcelos. "It is true that there is a large project in Panama, the Panatrólis, but the size of ours is much more expressive," says the secretary, who adds: "The aerotropolis we plan to Minas Gerais is based on the new airport master plan of Confins (Trancredo Neves International Airport), the only one in Brazil with rhythmic phases for the next 30 years". According to him, the airport is expected to operate in 2045 with 40 million passengers, and by 2015 will be operating with about 13 million passengers.

Cities In the project of the first aerotropolis in Latin America, from the Tancredo Neves International Airport, three cities will be directly under the influence of the airport: Lagoa Santa, Santa Luzia and Pedro Leopoldo, besides Confins, already fully occupied by the airport and the services linked to the activity. "In Minas Gerais, we studied the economic strategy of 28 industrial sectors and services liable to be included in the project and elected seven: three in services (tourism, business, education for training focused on logistics and storage) and four in the aircraft industry / aerospace / defense, life sciences, information technology and technological equipment, "adds Vasconcelos.

Over the past two years there were invested $ 500 million in public funds invested in the construction of the first platform of highways and structures development in a catchment area of about 30 km around the airport.

Seminar The themes Aerotropolis and Airportcity will be presented by Undersecretary of State Development, Luiz Antônio Athayde Vasconcelos and discussed in the presence of entrepreneurs and national and international authorities during the 2nd International Seminar on Airport Infrastructure in Latin America which will be held on 24th to 26th April, 2012, at Transamérica Expo Center, in São Paulo.

The event, conceived and organized by Sator Events, will take 6000 meters square and should surpass the mark of last year, when 100 companies from 18 countries attended the inaugural event, which received about 5.5 thousand people.

This year, in addition to the seminar, another event takes place in parallel to Airport Infra Expo: the 1st Workshop on Brazilian Retail, which will bring together experts on how to enhance trade opportunities within the airport environment.

One of the novelties of the second edition of the Airport Terminal Infrastructure Expo is the Future, a scenographic space which will reproduce the operation of a passenger terminal equipped with the most modern in the world in terms of hardware and operating systems. Some companies have already confirmed in the area are the Brazilian Rucker and Engine, the British Smiths Detection, the North American Arinc, among others.

One of the novelties of the second edition of the Airport Infra Expo is the Terminal of Future, a scenographic space which will reproduce the operation of a passenger terminal equipped with the most modern hardware and operating systems. Some companies confirmed in this space: the Brazilians Rucker and Engine, the British Smiths Detection, the North American Arinc, among others.