• São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport is working to convert its scale into consistent cargo performance. Infrastructure upgrades and landside flow redesigns aim to reduce congestion, improve throughput, and support express and cross-border e-commerce.
• Operational improvements focus on workflow digitalisation, process consistency, and predictable ramp and stand management, addressing historic bottlenecks and enhancing reliability for shippers and forwarders.
• Regional competitors like Bogotá and Santiago are gaining ground through specialised handling and operational discipline. GRU’s success in 2026 depends on pairing its scale with smoother execution to become a dependable southern anchor in Latin American airfreight.

As 2026 unfolds, São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) is attempting what it has promised for years but rarely delivered at scale: a reset of its role in the hemispheric cargo network. Long held back by congestion, clearance friction and ground-side constraints, Brazil’s main gateway is pushing through infrastructure and process changes aimed at turning scale into dependable performance. The broader regional context is mixed: IATA’s reporting has shown Latin America & Caribbean carriers underperforming some regions at points in late 2025, reinforcing why reliability and network fit matter as much as raw capacity. 

The timing matters. Latin American air-cargo flows are diversifying, e-commerce volumes are climbing, and shippers are increasingly unwilling to absorb friction at primary hubs. For São Paulo, 2026 is about turning latent demand into consistent execution.

Infrastructure catching up 

GRU’s most visible shift is physical: new cargo facilities and landside flow redesigns are reducing truck-side congestion and improving throughput for high-frequency cargo. That push aligns with the long-range direction of the market, where express and cross-border e-commerce keep gaining share and networks reward airports that can process these flows cleanly. Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast highlights the structural growth expectations for airfreight and the continued importance of express traffic in shaping network design and facility priorities. 

Airport planners are also trying to create more predictable operating conditions for freighters and time-sensitive cargo by optimising stands and ramps and smoothing peak-period flows, less “big announcement,” more practical de-bottlenecking.

Addressing old pain points 

Infrastructure alone won’t erase GRU’s challenges. Operational disruptions and constraints on general cargo acceptance have surfaced in industry advisories, underscoring how quickly congestion can become a system problem when volumes spike or processes lag. 

In response, stakeholders have been pushing workflow digitalisation and process consistency, because for shippers, predictability often matters more than headline speed. The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index frames this clearly: performance relies on customs effectiveness, timeliness and process reliability just as much as it relies on hard infrastructure.

Ground-side capacity has also been a recurring theme. GRU itself has publicly acknowledged cargo performance and volumes in its management reporting, useful not as PR, but as a primary-source indicator of what the airport is measuring and prioritising as it works to enhance operations.

Regional competitive pressure 

São Paulo’s pivot is happening in a crowded field, and the “largest gateway” story in Latin America is not as simple as it used to be. Bogotá’s El Dorado reported 809,029 tonnes of cargo in 2024, positioning itself as a leading cargo hub in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Santiago has also been building momentum. Chile’s main airport has strengthened its position in high-value exports, particularly perishables, by prioritising operational reliability and specialised handling over raw scale. The airport has invested in cold-chain infrastructure and streamlined processes that appeal to shippers moving temperature-sensitive cargo, segments where consistency matters more than capacity. By leaning into specialisation rather than competing on volume, Santiago has carved out a credible niche in the regional cargo network.

Both hubs have capitalised on their competitor’s inconsistencies by leaning into specialisation and operational discipline rather than trying to out-scale São Paulo outright.

Can GRU become the southern anchor? 

What sets 2026 apart from past reset attempts is a shared goal: making GRU work more efficiently and consistently. For carriers, improved turn times mean better schedule reliability. For forwarders, clearer processes cut contingency planning costs. For shippers, São Paulo’s scale, if paired with smoother execution, offers access to Brazil’s massive consumer and industrial base with less friction. 

The macro backdrop also matters: studies continue to stress uneven growth, exposure to shocks and the need for resilience across the hemisphere, which supports the business case for dependable gateways and credible alternates.

A pivot in motion 

São Paulo’s airfreight transformation is evident, but still incomplete. In 2026, GRU stands at a crossroads: it can finally turn scale into leadership, or it can remain a gateway whose potential runs ahead of its performance. 

For now, a pivot is well underway. Whether it reshapes the southern logistics map of the Americas will depend less on concrete poured and more on habits changed.