São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport

If you can visit only one airport in South America, you will almost certainly land in Guarulhos. The airport in the north of São Paulo is Latin America’s busiest, home of LATAM’s long-haul network and a GOL hub – and it puts airlines and registrations in front of your lens that you know in Europe at best as one-offs. Add two runways with a clear division of roles and a spotter scene that has opened up its own places around the grounds.

From air force grounds to mega airport

For a long time Congonhas was São Paulo’s airport – in the middle of the city, with a short runway and no room to grow. For growing international traffic the metropolis needed a new site at the end of the 1970s. The choice fell on Cumbica in the neighboring city of Guarulhos, where the Brazilian Air Force already operated a base and made land available for the civil airport. To this day, civil and military aviation share parts of the area; the Base Aérea de São Paulo is still on the grounds.

Construction began in August 1980, and on January 20, 1985, the airport went into operation, at first with one 3,000-meter runway. The first expansion stage was designed for 7.5 million passengers a year – a number reached in a few weeks today. In 1989 the second runway was added, and later Terminal 2 grew in several stages. In 2001 the airport was named by law after the former governor André Franco Montoro. In everyday life hardly anyone uses that name: locals call it “Guarulhos” or simply “Cumbica,” and everyone else just GRU.

Privatization and expansion

For almost three decades the state-owned Infraero operated the airport. In February 2012 Brazil handed operations to a private consortium under a 20-year concession – at the start consisting of the Brazilian infrastructure investor Invepar and Airports Company South Africa. Infraero remained a 49 percent shareholder in the operating company, which has traded since November 2012 under the brand GRU Airport.

With privatization, expansion picked up speed. Former cargo halls of the historic airlines VASP (from 2012) and Transbrasil (from 2013) were converted into a domestic terminal, which has operated as Terminal 1 since December 2015. The biggest leap, though, came with Terminal 3: it opened on May 11, 2014, shortly before the football World Cup, and since then has handled most of the international long-haul. The first international flight at the new terminal came from Lufthansa from Frankfurt.

In parallel, the longer runway was widened for Code F aircraft. In October 2015 the authority ANAC officially approved the Airbus A380, in November 2015 Emirates came with a special flight, and from March 2017 the airline used the superjumbo daily between Dubai and São Paulo – which type currently flies is shown by the schedule. An expansion of Terminal 3 is currently under construction, with completion announced for the end of 2026 – whether the schedule holds, you should check with the operator before a visit.

Two runways with a clear division of roles

The layout is clear: two parallel asphalt runways run east–west. The northern 10L/28R is the longer one at 3,700 meters and suited for the A380; the southern 10R/28L measures 3,000 meters. According to the spotter community’s experience, the division of roles is usually clear: landings are mostly on the south runway, departures on the north runway. That makes planning easier than at airports where both runways are used in a mixed way.

Which direction is currently active is decided by the wind, as everywhere. According to the spotter community, runway direction 10 – that is, takeoffs and landings toward the east – is the more common one. If the wind shifts, aircraft fly toward 28, and approaches come from the other side. How to judge wind and runway direction in use beforehand is explained in the article Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport; live, a flight tracker using ADS-B helps you.

A peculiarity of GRU is the capacity limit. The airport is slot-coordinated, and more than 45 takeoffs and landings per hour are not planned. For you that means: even at peak times it will not be non-stop action like at the big US hubs, but traffic is spread fairly evenly over the day – and the long-haul waves in the morning and evening are especially worthwhile.

LATAM: the master of the long-haul

For most spotters Guarulhos is first of all a LATAM airport. LATAM Airlines Brasil, which emerged from the former TAM, operates its most important hub here. Since the merger with Chile’s LAN in 2012 it has belonged to the LATAM Airlines Group, and since 2016 it has operated under the shared name LATAM. From GRU, LATAM flies to Europe and North America, among other places, plus a dense domestic network – the airline’s other Brazilian hubs are in Brasília and Fortaleza.

On long-haul, the Boeing 777-300ER shapes the picture, plus Boeing 787 aircraft from the LATAM group, some of which also fly with Chilean registrations. On short and medium haul, LATAM Brasil flies types of the A320 family – from the A319 through the A320neo to the A321. For domestic traffic, the airline also ordered Embraer E195-E2s in 2025, with deliveries starting in 2026.

The alliance history, which can be read off the liveries, is interesting too. TAM was a member of Star Alliance from 2010, switched to oneworld in 2014 and left this alliance too in May 2020. Today LATAM works closely with Delta without belonging to any of the three big alliances. If you want to sort old photos with alliance titles, the article on alliance liveries helps.

GOL, Azul and Brazilian domestic traffic

Besides LATAM, GOL Linhas Aéreas operates a hub at Guarulhos. The orange jets are practically always there to be seen, and because GOL flies only Boeing 737s, the registration becomes the most important piece of information: besides older 737-800s, more and more 737 MAX 8 aircraft stand on the apron. The differences between the generations are explained in the article on 737 generations.

Azul is the third big domestic airline. Its main hub is in Campinas; at Guarulhos it operates from Terminal 1. The mixed fleet is interesting for you: Embraer jets such as the E195-E2, Airbus A320neo and ATR turboprops. The E-Jets built at home in particular – the manufacturer Embraer is based in the state of São Paulo – are a nice contrast to European airports. How to tell the variants apart is shown in the article Telling Embraer E-Jets apart.

If you are interested in aviation history, at Guarulhos you also see traces of Brazil’s great airlines of the past. The first landing after the 1985 opening was a Varig flight from New York, and today’s Terminal 1 halls once belonged to VASP and Transbrasil. All three companies are long gone.

International guests: from TAP to TAAG

What makes GRU so appealing for Europeans is the mix of long-haul. From Europe come TAP Air Portugal from Lisbon and Porto, Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Munich, Air France, KLM, Iberia, British Airways, Swiss, ITA Airways and Turkish Airlines, among others. From the Middle East fly Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Especially exciting are the connections across the South Atlantic: Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa, Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca, South African Airways and TAAG Angola Airlines from Luanda. From North America, American Airlines, Delta, United, Air Canada and Aeroméxico are represented, from Asia Air China. Add numerous airlines from South America, such as Aerolíneas Argentinas.

Routes and the types used change with every schedule. Treat the list as a guide as of fall 2026 and check before your visit who is coming when and with what aircraft.

Cargo: LATAM Cargo and co.

Guarulhos is also Brazil’s most important cargo airport. A large share flies in the belly of long-haul jets, but there are pure freighters as well. LATAM Cargo mainly uses freighter versions of the Boeing 767, including on the domestic route to Manaus. Add companies such as Atlas Air and Ethiopian Cargo as well as smaller Brazilian cargo airlines, some of which fly converted Boeing 737s.

For you that means: keep your eyes open for aircraft like the Boeing 767-300F or the 777F. How to recognize freighters at first glance is explained in the article Recognizing freighter aircraft.

Spotting in Guarulhos

There is no official observation deck or visitor park like in Munich at Guarulhos. The spotter community has therefore opened up a whole range of places in and around the airport. The following overview is based on reports from the scene – accessibility and safety situation can change.

• At the terminals: From the walkway between Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, departures from 28R in the climb can be photographed. In the public area of Terminal 2 West there is a view of taxiing traffic and of aircraft lining up on 10L. A glazed terrace at Terminal 2 East is temporarily closed according to the community because of renovations.
• Around the rail station: At the Terminal 1 parking lot and the bus stop near the rail station you see approaches to the 10 runways. Security staff do not always like telephoto lenses there – stay low-key and in public areas.
• In the city of Guarulhos: West of the airport, according to the community, there are several places under the approach to 10R, such as small squares and streets in residential areas. Close-up approach shots work there.
• Elevated locations: Hotels near the airport sometimes offer a view of the final approach, according to the community. These are private offers – ask beforehand and follow the house rules.

Some locations in residential areas are explicitly described by experienced spotters as unsafe; there have been reports of robberies. Go there only in larger groups, take as little as possible with you and ideally arrive by taxi or ride service. You get tips for protecting your camera in the article Protecting your photo equipment.

Getting there: train, bus and people mover

For a long time Guarulhos could be reached only by road, and traffic toward São Paulo is notorious. Since March 31, 2018, CPTM Line 13 (Jade) has provided a direct rail connection to Aeroporto-Guarulhos station. Since December 2020 an Airport Express train has also run, at first from Luz and since 2023 from Palmeiras-Barra Funda via Luz. From the station near Terminal 1, a free people mover takes you to all three terminals.

Airport buses run between Guarulhos and Congonhas; depending on traffic the ride can take a long time. If you want to visit both airports in one day, plan generously. You can find general tips on getting to spotting locations in the article Getting to the spot.

Guarulhos in comparison

In the airline network, GRU is closely tied to airports you may already know. Lisbon Airport is TAP’s European gateway to Brazil, Madrid-Barajas Airport the hub for many connections between Europe and Latin America, and at Frankfurt Airport Lufthansa and LATAM depart for São Paulo. In North America, Miami Airport plays a similar role as a gateway to Latin America – with considerably more cargo traffic still.

If you compare Guarulhos with European hubs, the mix stands out above all: a lot of domestic traffic with only three big airlines, but a long-haul network that unites Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East on two runways. If you travel from Europe, you can start your sightings at the departure airport – for example with an Emirates connection via Dubai Airport.

Conclusion

São Paulo-Guarulhos Airport is Latin America’s heavyweight: about 47 million passengers, the hub of LATAM and GOL and a long-haul network that brings together Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East. For spotters from Europe that means new airlines, new registrations and, with a bit of luck, even an Emirates A380.

Spotting here is not easier than in Munich or Zurich, though. There is no official visitor park, the light is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, and at some places caution matters more than the perfect focal length. If you clarify runway direction in use, season and safety beforehand, you come back from Guarulhos with a logbook that differs markedly from any European spotting day.