A Brazilian judge has banned all Fokker 100 and Boeing 737-700, -800 and classic aircraft from operating at São Paulo’s Congonhas downtown airport from 00:00 tonight following a spate of recent runway overrun incidents.
The ruling, from judge Ronald Carvalho Filho of the 22 district federal court in São Paulo, comes after four minor runway overrun incidents involving these aircraft types in recent months. It leaves only TAM’s Airbus A320 family jets and turboprop operators authorised to operate on the restricted runway.
But the Brazilian civil aviation authority ANAC says it will immediately challenge the court order, arguing it is the only institution authorised to rule which aircraft are certified to land on which airport.
In the meantime ANAC is preparing an emergency plan to eventually transfer affected flights to São Paulo's Guarulhos international airport and the Campinas cargo airport in Viracopos, should the court order not be withdrawn before tomorrow.
ANAC fears the court decision could send a new shockwave through the Brazilian commercial aviation system, after work-to-rule actions by Brazil's air traffic controllers had produced periods of severe delays and flight cancellations since last October. "Congonhas is a crucial airport to all domestic operators and we will do our best to avoid a new chaos during the upcoming Carnival week,” the spokesman says.
Major local Boeing operators like GOL, VRG and BRA would be affected in all their operations, though TAM could substitute its Fokker 100 operations with Airbus A319 and A320 flights. No official statements have been published yet by the affected airlines but a GOL spokeswoman says it is confident the restrictions will be lifted before tomorrow.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
