:: SAOSpotting | SBGR/GRU ::

SBGR/GRU - São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport - Governador André Franco Montoro

Introduction

GRU is São Paulo's largest airport; it's located approximately 25km from São Paulo downtown. It's not in São Paulo per say, but in Guarulhos a neighbour city which is connected to the big, gray, concrete mass that is São Paulo (if one didn't know better, he could swear that he was still in São Paulo as there is no clear mark that separates these two cities). The airport is considered the hub of South America as it offers the best connections to wherever you may want to go.

Cumbica, as it's also called by locals, has two terminals (Terminal 1, which consists of Wings A and B & Terminal 2, which consists of Wings C and D), a Cargo terminal, an Airbase (B.A.S.P. - Base Aérea São Paulo), a Buisness jet ramp and two runways (09L/27R - 3700x45m; 09R/27L - 3000x45m).

Traffic

This is the place to be if you want to find some different, more exotic airliners. Nevertheless it's also quite common to stumble upon some military traffic: C-130s, F-5s, EMB-312/314s, C-99s, AMXs, etc. Buisness jets are also a common sight as the international flights often go through customs here.

The Airlines

Terminal 1: Aerolineas Argentinas (AR), Aeromexico (AM), Air France (AF), Alitalia (AZ), Avianca Colombia (AV), British Airways (BA), Delta Air Lines (DL), Iberia (IB), JAL - Japan Airlines (JL), KLM (KL), Korean Air (KE), OceanAir (O6), TAM (JJ/PZ), United Airlines (UA), WebJet (WJ).

Terminal 2: AeroSur (5L), Air Canada (AC), American Airlines (AA), Comtinental Airlines (CO), Copa Airlines (CM), Emirates (EK), Gol Transportes Aéreos (G3); LAN (Chile-Argentina-Peru - LA/4M), Lufthansa (LH), Pluna (PU), South African Airways (SA), SWISS International Air Lines (LX), TACA (TA), TAP Portugal (TP), Varig - VRG Linhas Aéreas (RG).

The Cargo Airlines

Not exactly many, but some exoctic ones operate in GRU:

Air Brasil Cargo, Air France Cargo, BETA Cargo, MTA, Skymaster Cargo, TOTAL Linhas Aéreas, VARIG Log as well as some other different rare guests.

Spotting points

First off: the best time of the year to come to GRU to photograph acfts is in the winter (End of April-End of August) - this way, no matter which runway is in use you'll be able to photograph from sunrise to sunset (weather permitting of course) - always with fantastic light. It's also possible photograph in the summer - the result won't be the same, most notably because the weather is usually very bad, but there are some spots from which good shots can be taken.

Suggestion: for some quality spotting in GRU the best time to visit is between the end of May and the end of July - it's also the winter holiday season in Brazil and the time when the aircraft traffic is more intense and diverse.

Take a look at the map bellow and click on the photo spotting points in order to get detailed about the spot, some examples and information on how to get there from the airport terminal.

While this section isn't finished, please feel free to contact me for help!