Frontiers April 2014 31 competition, in fact, opened the door to new partnerships and collaborative opportunities with the Brazilian government and industry.” With Brazil hosting this year’s World Cup soccer competition and the 2016 Summer Olympics, the need for an efficient airport infrastructure is of growing importance. Hrinak said the government has begun revitalizing 65 airports by granting concessions to private-sector airport operators. Thus far, a controlling interest in six airports has been purchased by five different operators, with the government retaining 49 percent ownership. “The government is really letting the private sector show what it can do,” Hrinak said. “These concessions have also brought in revenue that the government can use to invest in the rest of their aviation infrastructure.” Van Rex Gallard, Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ vice president, Sales, for Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, said the merger of Brazil’s TAM Airlines with Chile’s LAN Airlines to create the LATAM Airline Group has changed the dynamics of the region’s airline industry. They, along with Avianca Brazil, provide regional and international service. “LATAM is becoming an aviation powerhouse in the region, with at least 50 percent of its operations based in Brazil,” Gallard said. “At the same time, the merger has created a better environment for domestic airlines to grow and prosper in Brazil.” Intercontinental flights coming into the country from LATAM and Avianca— as well as from the other 80 international carriers that have operations in Brazil, including 11 U.S. airlines—create opportunities for regionally focused carriers such as GOL and Azul Brazilian Airlines to take passengers to their final destinations, Gallard said. Boeing’s Current Market Outlook forecasts that 2,900 new airplanes will be sold in Latin America over the next 20 years. An estimated 40 percent of the new airplanes will serve Brazilian carriers. With its rapidly growing economy, Brazil also has an increasing need to expand its defense and security systems, according to Roberto Valla, Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s international business development regional director for the Americas. Brazil has a large geographic area to protect, along with extensive borders and shorelines. It must also secure islands and oil resources located miles offshore. There is a growing need for intelligence, surveillance and PHOTOS AND GRAPHIC: (Far left) A Boeing 737-800 in GOL livery completed Brazil’s first commercial flight powered by biofuels last October. GOL AIRLINES (Above, clockwise from top) Students from Brazil perform a composite layup at the University of Washington, a Boeing partner. MELISSA HELMENSTINE/BOEING Graduate student Cristiane Scaldaferri examines bio-based materials samples at the University of Minas Gerais, where BR&T-Brazil has a research partnership. VÂNYA PASA Artist’s concept of a 777 in TAM livery. BOEING Donna Hrinak, president of Boeing Brazil. SERGIO ZACCHI
Frontiers April 2014 Issue
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