Contributor - South America

Richard Pedicini

São Paulo’s airshow season kicked off this week with HeliXP at Helipark. The date was moved up because the next event, Catarina Aviation Show, had moved up its dates to May 21 to 23. The last and most longstanding event, LABACE, will take place from August 4 to 6 at Campo de Marte Airport (SBMT). Organizers of all three fairs spoke with AIN yesterday at the second, and closing, day of HeliXP.
Now in its seventh edition, HeliXP featured 58 stands exhibiting 87 brands, including 12 new exhibitors. Gledson Castro, executive director of organizer G2C Events, explained the fair’s efficiency: by offering standard booths that vary only in square footage, it’s possible to set up the fair in two days and break it down in six hours. Helipark clears one hangar for the event. Exhibitors have a turnkey operation: they can arrive on opening day and their booth is ready.&nbsp;
The downside is that the fair can’t grow—it’s limited to the hangar size. One strategy Gledson is considering is alternating years between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where more space is available and additional sectors such as public safety and offshore can be featured.
He ensures variety by limiting the number of exhibitors in any sector to three. This year’s HeliXP featured three trading firms (which have tax advantages for importation) and three insurance companies; some other past fairs have seemed overwhelmed by firms offering such auxiliary paperwork services. There are a total of 18 sectors.
The emphasis at HeliXP was on content, and it provided room for the unusual: Exacta conducts tests on interior finishing materials and certifies them to aviation authority ANAC. Tool manufacturer Tramontina showed off a locking chest that identifies who removes and returns each tool. A wandering pair offered consortiums, a financing scheme about as exotic as a tontine, but suited to a country that has suffered high inflation and still has high borrowing costs. Brazilian-made electric tugs crawled around the static display. Repeat exhibitors from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. find the fair productive.
Larger vendors were in evidence as well. Lider, long the country’s leading business aviation firm, usually appears at LABACE with chalets that border on châteaux. At HeliXP, MRO general sales manager Marcos Costa manned the basic booth and found it just as conducive to meeting with customers. Airbus showed off its Helionix training simulator, combining custom software with standard hardware for an economical instruction tool. Several preowned helicopters on display featured price stickers in their windows, and several colorful paint jobs were shown as well.
Helipark is an operating heliport, which means the static display shares patio space with operations. A conversation with luxury shared-ride operator Revo was drowned out by a helicopter—one of Revo’s fleet of three—taking off as it operates out of Helipark.
Like all Brazilian aviation fairs, HeliXP starts after lunch and runs into the night, with the public surging and alcohol appearing as the sun approaches the horizon. Aviation transport specialist AGS was one of the few with a chalet, appropriately constructed of shipping containers, where it held one of its parties. A five-piece jazz band entertained customers, and Helipark supplied draft beer from the fuselage of a written-off helicopter with a cabin restored to selfie-ready splendor.
<h3>Three Events, Three Visions</h3>
HeliXP is Latin America’s largest rotary-wing event, which is more a specialization than a limitation since São Paulo is one of the world’s largest rotary-wing markets. Gledson Castro was once responsible for the operational end of LABACE—he was the guy with a hard hat and walkie-talkie—which may explain why HeliXP operates efficiently and has jettisoned complications like custom booths.
G2C Events also operates the Aviation XP fair in Belo Horizonte and seven aviation “summits” around the country during the year. The firm is vertically integrated: a subsidiary owns the booths and sets them up, and is even constructing some booths for LABACE.&nbsp;
HeliXP has moved to an invitation-only model, with exhibitors distributing invitations to clients and industry friends.
Catarina Aviation Show is the newest and hottest of São Paulo’s aviation shows. It is set at greenfield Catarina Executive Airport (SBJH), built as the country’s first purpose-built business airport, by luxury giant JHSF. Catarina Aviation Show is squarely focused on the consumer market—the high-net-worth individuals coveted by OEMs.
Present at HeliXP were Rogério Sautner, Catarina commercial manager, and Vinnicius Vieira of Hiria NürnbergMesse, fair organizer. Sautner said, “All the OEMs have confirmed: Bombardier, Gulfstream, Dassault, Embraer, Airbus, Leonardo, and Pilatus.” While Lider will be exhibiting at Catarina for the first time, the presence of the HondaJet is still uncertain.&nbsp;
Asked to compare fairs, Sautner noted, “Each one has its focus. We’re aimed at the owner,” and thus also offers yachts and supercars at the event. “LABACE is trade, [Catarina] is client-facing.” The focus remains on aircraft, and he described the other “lifestyle” offerings as side ventures.&nbsp;
Catarina Aviation Show will have 74 exhibitors this year. Among the expected attractions are the return of the retro Junkers aircraft, a hit last year, and the new Embraer Praetor 600E. Pagani will launch “Pagani Art,” bringing the supercar’s design to aircraft interiors, including Agusta helicopters. Horacio Pagani himself is scheduled to appear.&nbsp;
Catarina Aviation Show starts before noon and ends earlier than other fairs. There were perceptibly greater security measures, a concern of Brazil’s ultra-rich. The invitation-only nature of the event is dictated both for security reasons and to ensure a qualified public for exhibitors.&nbsp;
LABACE sales head Tamara Savelkoul was present at HeliXP, along with LABACE organizer and ABAG financial manager Romulo Silva. LABACE 2025 was a challenge, with the fair evicted from its first and only home, Congonhas Airport. Savelkoul said, “No one believed in the change [to Campo de Marte Airport]. But I have not had one single complaint.” She noted she had not been able to see much of HeliXP: “I keep being stopped by people” who want to say good things about LABACE. This year, 150,000 sq m of space has been sold for LABACE 2026, with 160 brands present and 57 aircraft confirmed.&nbsp;
“It will be bigger and stronger…we expect more public and a better LABACE,” she said.
Savelkoul agreed with Sautner’s comparison of Catarina and LABACE, but saw it as positive for LABACE. “LABACE started as a business aviation fair, but now it’s an aviation business fair.” While LABACE was once focused on OEMs, “We now get the whole supply chain.” Catarina seems to have no exhibitors that offer anything less than a finished product to end users, she noted.
One barrier remains at Campo de Marte, which is the lack of IFR procedures. ABAG technical director Raul Marinho explained that airspace control agency DECEA is currently promising publication of IFR procedures on August 6, just a little too late for LABACE 2026. ABAG is asking that it be pushed up by a week.

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