Campo de Marte, in São Paulo, will have instrument flights only in the early morning, defines Aeronautics

Campo de Marte Airport, in the northern zone of São Paulo, now has defined rules for instrument flight operations (IFR) following the approval of new air navigation procedures.

The change is set out in an Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) issued by the Air Force and involves amendments to air traffic circulation within the São Paulo Terminal Area (TMA-SP), as well as temporary restrictions on visual operations in the region.

According to the document, IFR operations at Campo de Marte will take place daily only between 6:00 a.m. and 6:59 a.m., in the early morning. During this window, visual flight rule (VFR) operations will be prohibited, with the exception of aircraft belonging to public security agencies and those involved in aeromedical missions, which will be permitted to operate under air traffic control.

Instrument operations begin on September 15. They will be limited to four IFR movements per day, under a slot system. The measure aims to keep the workload of the sectors responsible for feeding and final sequencing within the São Paulo TMA at levels considered safe, avoiding impacts on the operational capacity of Congonhas Airport, in the southern zone.

All IFR procedures at Campo de Marte, including arrivals (STAR), departures (SID), and approach procedures (IAC), will be developed exclusively for runway 12, near Avenida Braz Leme and the Casa Verde neighborhood. IFR training for these procedures will also be prohibited.

The new operation will require changes to air traffic circulation in the region. During periods when IFR is active, sections of various REA (Special Aircraft Routes) and REH (Special Helicopter Routes) will be temporarily suspended via NOTAM — aeronautical notices — to ensure separation between instrument flights and the heavy visual traffic existing in the greater São Paulo metropolitan area.

Among the helicopter routes that will have sections closed are REH Aricanduva, Anhanguera Sul, Ecológico, Fernão, Marte, and Radial. There will also be restrictions on sections of REA Charlie, Quebec, and Romeo, while REA November will remain fully closed during IFR operations.

To enable the execution of instrument procedures, CTR Marte will be established — an airspace under the jurisdiction of Torre Marte. The area will have defined lateral and vertical limits to protect the arrival and departure trajectories for runway 12 and to separate IFR traffic from the heavy visual traffic existing in the region.

During CTR Marte activation, no aircraft may remain in the airspace without radio contact with air traffic control. Non-compliance with this rule may result in measures related to air traffic violations.

The implementation of the procedures will also require changes to the operations of different sectors within the São Paulo TMA. Sector T7, responsible for departures toward the Northeast, will begin coordinating departure trajectories from Campo de Marte and missed approaches requiring that area of the TMA.