Story ID: 
Imetame Upgrades ATR72 To Shuttle Construction Crews
By: Richard Pedicini
Caption: Brazilian factory construction specialist Imetame recently upgraded to an ATR72-600 to shuttle workers from its base in Aracruz to work sites.
Word Count: 222
Brazilian factory construction specialist Imetame recently upgraded to an ATR72-600 to shuttle workers from its base in Aracruz for five-week shifts at the work site, rotating for time off at home. A typical construction cycle will last 20 months, with a small crew during the first six months and then around 1,500 workers, requiring two shuttle flights a day, six days a week, between Aracruz and the factory site.

Imetame bought a 1995 ATR72-202 in 2012 but with more factory projects scheduled, it acquired the larger ATR72-600 through AELIS Group and put the older ATR up for sale. The company’s next challenge is finding 10 pilots to handle the peak load, it said.

The next factory being built is in upstate São Paulo and has no direct flights to Imetame’s headquarters, not to mention that the company would effectively fill all scheduled commercial seats from the local airport to the nearest hub. Other factory sites are even more poorly served, as the locations are chosen not for their airline service, but rather for their proximity to trees, oil, or minerals.

Imetame, founded in 1980, builds and maintains pulp and paper mills, steel mills, and construction in mining, oil-and-gas, power generation, and cement. It is also one of Brazil’s largest exporters of ornamental stone.