Michael Cabral

Michael is the Chief of Staff at Congonhas Airport, one of Brazil’s busiest and most iconic airports. With over 12 years of experience in the airport industry, he has held strategic positions at Brazil's two main international hubs (GRU and GIG) and provided technical advisory services to the main air transport stakeholders: policymakers, civil aviation authorities, airport operators, airlines, ANSPs, financial institutions, and private investors. His main hobby is spending time with his two children.

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Challenge of transforming Congonhas (CGH): the most complex Brazilian airport

Inaugurated in 1936, Congonhas (CGH) is a historical symbol of São Paulo. With over 10% of Brazilian GDP within a 15km radius, and processing 23 million annual passengers on a 1.5 km² site, the airport faces intense public and media scrutiny. As a result of operational improvements implemented by the new operator, Congonhas achieved a top-three ranking in global on-time performance in four of the last nine months. A US$400m investment is planned through 2028. Concession contract obligations and land-use constraints significantly challenged masterplan development. Multiple airport layouts will be operated until the final configuration, maintaining capacity.

The audience will learn:

• Understand how a space-constrained urban airport like Congonhas (CGH) acts as a powerful economic catalyst for its city
• Analyze strategies for achieving operational excellence and resilience in challenging airport environments, focusing on high on-time performance (OTP)
• Understand the challenges of balancing concession contract obligations, land-use restrictions and community needs in airport development and consultation processes
• Discover how to implement major airport interventions and expansions through phased construction while maintaining operational capacity
• Explore the operator's view of key technologies for the new Congonhas Airport (CGH), to be delivered in 2028