The implementation of a new system on the main runway of Congonhas airport, in the south of São Paulo, was completed and delivered today (1st) by the federal government. This is the Engineered Material Arresting System, also called Emas technology, a kind of escape area, installed at the two ends of the runway and intended to provide more safety for flights. The works to implement this system began in May of last year.
This technology consists of installing concrete blocks at the head of the runway, which deform when an aircraft crosses the final limit of the runway, causing the plane to decelerate. It is only used in emergency situations and increases safety for takeoffs and landings. The São Paulo terminal is the first in Brazil and the first in Latin America to adopt the system.
The federal government invested R$122.5 million in public resources from the National Civil Aviation Fund-Fnac, in implementing this technology at the airport. The 17R headland escape, measuring 72 meters x 47.4 meters, was completed in March of this year; and the other, at head 35L, measuring 64 meters x 47.4 meters, was delivered today. The two structures are supported by beams and pillars that are capable of supporting aircraft.
“We are talking about an investment of almost R$ 130 million made by the government in the search to further increase security in operations here at Congonhas airport, which is today the second busiest in the country and the main air bridge for our domestic aviation in Brazil . So it is very important that we can be prepared for any type of emergency or obstacle in our aviation”, said Marcelo Sampaio, Minister of Infrastructure, in an interview with journalists today.
In a ceremony held in the late afternoon at the Congonhas Airport Authority Pavilion, the director of Operations and Technical Services of the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company (Infraero), Andre Luiz Fonseca e Silva, informed that this type of system, which began to be applied in the 90s, it is currently used in hundreds of airports around the world, most of them in the United States. “It is a braking system, to stop the aircraft from the compression of a material that is compressed, braking the aircraft and bringing safety”, he explained.
According to the director, since the inauguration of the first Emas system, still in the 1990s, it has been used 23 times all over the world, with a success rate of 100%.
Auction
In an interview with journalists, the minister also commented on the auction of Congonhas Airport concession, scheduled to be held in August. “We are working on airport concession rounds. On August 18, we will be at the Stock Exchange, back to São Paulo, to pass one of the crown jewels, which is Congonhas airport”, he said. “Congonhas is indeed an airport that will have substantial investment. We are talking about more than R$7.3 billion of investments in this next round of airport concessions”, he added.
