Since August 15, 2004, Congonhas Airport has had a new face. This is when the first step was completed of the upgrade work Infraero has been undertaking at South America¿s busiest airport.

Passengers now enjoy new boarding lounges, located on the mezzanine level, accessed by escalators. Besides this, eight boarding bridges were installed to provide more comfort to passengers by eliminating the need to walk in the open to their flights. The terminal area was expanded from 37.3 thousand to over 51 thousand square meters.

This expansion did not seek to raise capacity, which was already saturated, but only to satisfy current demand. Congonhas Airport, built in the 1930s, was designed to handle 6 million passengers a year and was operating with 12 million a year.

The ample new boarding area, separated from the main concourse, adds greatly to passenger comfort.

But this is only the first step of the project to upgrade Congonhas, begun in 2003, which has generated 1500 jobs. Four more boarding bridges will be put into service soon along with a new arrivals area with five baggage carrousels.

Since Congonhas has 25 aircraft parking boxes, passenger access can also be by bus. The construction of a parking garage, under way, will also unsnarl traffic in the terminal access area. This work is scheduled for completion in 18 months.

The new parking garage, with 61 thousand square meters, will have 3,300 parking spaces. A study is also in progress to build a tunnel under Avenida Washington Luís and to establish a light rail vehicle line integrated with the São Paulo Metro system.