Brazil is preparing for aviation security measures for the Olympics, which will include airspace restrictions in force from July 24 until after the Paralympics end in September. Airspace restrictions will include a 7.4-km (four-nm) radius “red zone” around stadiums during games and the closure of Rio's main general aviation airport, Jacarepaguá, near the Olympic Village, to all but public-safety use.
Business aircraft using Rio airspace will be subject to additional security inspections, similar to those for commercial aviation, from August 3 to 22 and September 7 to 19, by designated private companies at eight hub airports. At Guarulhos, Manaus, Galeão and Recife, inspections will be performed by Universal Weather and Aviation and Brazilian ground handler Grupo Orbital; at Porto Alegre and Rio Santos Dumont by Orbital only; and at Cabo Frio by airport concessionaire Costa do Sol.
Inspection simulations will be conducted at these airports before next month. On Friday, Universal and Orbital managers, two inspectors from Brazil’s national aviation authority ANAC and federal police conducted such a simulated inspection at Guarulhos International Airport.
An airport spokesman told AIN that a terrorism simulation was also conducted last week and the arrival of the Brazilian national soccer team served to test its dedicated “Olympic Terminal” for foreign delegations, about 40 percent of which are expected to come through Guarulhos on commercial flights, including the 500-member Chinese delegation. São Paulo will be hosting 10 soccer games during the Olympics, more than the six held during the 2014 World Cup.