Contributor - South America

Richard Pedicini

The 12th edition of LABACE opens on Tuesday at São Paulo Campo de Marte Airport (SBMT) in a new location and facing more competitors. Leonardo Fiuza—chairman of ABAG, organizer of the annual Latin American business aviation fair—describes the move from long-time home São Paulo Congonhas Airport (SBSP) as “positive.” He further explained that the exhibition area at SBMT will be three times the size, going from 38,000 sq m (409,029 sq ft) last year at SBSP to 110,000 sq m this year.
Fiuza also noted that the area is “completely flat, and the pavement is smooth. It helps for both setting up stands, making it easier for production people, and it’s much more agreeable for those who come to visit the fair.”
At Campo de Marte, LABACE will maintain its distinctive character, with booths a brief walk from the static display, and being in the center of the city. SBMT is across town from Congonhas but is still within easy reach of the business district and well served by restaurants. The new location is also next door to the Anhembi convention center, the city’s largest.
While the move has been ABAG’s Plan B for many years, it still required preparation. One example is determining the resistance of the runway at what was the city’s original airport, which involved engineers taking core samples from SBMT’s runway at night—an effort financed and supervised by ABAG.
Fiuza conceded, “There’s still no IFR procedure, but it’s in the final stages with DECEA,” the airspace control body. The patio area used for the fair is under the administration of the Brazilian Air Force, which Fiuza praised for their cooperation and support for LABACE.
One of the new offerings at LABACE 2025 is a full-day “First National General Aviation Flight Safety Encounter” on Monday, preceding the fair’s opening on Tuesday. Among the topics to be discussed are “the delicate relationships between aircraft owners and pilots” during the opening panel titled “When the pilot needs to say no.”
While the number of exhibitors will increase to 152, up from 144 last year, and static display aircraft climbs to 48 from 44, this is still below historic highs. Exhibitors will include Embraer, Airbus Helicopters, Synerjet (Pilatus Aircraft), Aeromot (Diamond Aircraft), Lider (HondaJet), Cirrus Aircraft, and Piper Aircraft. TAM Aviação Executive, a representative for Textron Aviation (Cessna and Beechcraft) and Bell Textron, will again be the largest LABACE exhibitor with six airplanes and two helicopters on display. Fiuza, who is also president of TAM AE, promised the first Cessna SkyCourier in Latin America as a highlight of the company’s static display.
The elephant in the room is the absence of Bombardier, Gulfstream Aerospace, and Dassault Falcon, all of which exhibited in May at the rival Catarina Aviation Show, where Airbus even brought the ACJ TwoTwenty. Asked if LABACE is losing leadership to the upstart show in Catarina, Fiuza contended that “the shows serve different publics, although there’s an intersection.”
He described LABACE as “more commercial” and attractive to industry suppliers, while Catarina is aimed at the buying public. For example, LABACE includes such exhibitors as Pratt &amp; Whitney Canada and fuel supplier BR, as well as sectors like avionics. The Catarina public is invitation-only, drawn from the client list of JHSF, the luxury construction giant that owns the airport. Many familiar LABACE faces were missing from the crowd, according to Fiuza.
Catarina is the brainchild of former ABAG chairman and LABACE organizer Francisco Lyra and Heli XP, a rising competitor to LABACE in the rotary-wing segment, is run by former LABACE operations manager Gledson Castro, who has also started several related regional fairs. Fiuza made it clear that LABACE has no desire to eat its children and maintains that the business aviation market in Brazil has grown beyond a single fair.

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