São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport

GRU SBGR  São Paulo, Brazil

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GRU at a glance

  • What it is: São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport is a major international airport serving São Paulo, Brazil.
  • Codes: GRU on your ticket, SBGR on the radar.
  • How busy: the reference profile lists about 43.0 million annual passengers across 2 runways.
  • Main airline: LATAM Airlines bases aircraft here, along with 1 other carrier.
  • Right now: 23 aircraft are within 55 km, shown live on the map above.
  • Local time zone: America/Sao_Paulo (UTC-3), so every time shown for GRU is local rather than UTC.

Aircraft observed near GRU

23 aircraft are within 55 km of GRU right now. This is live ADS-B traffic, not a published timetable: aircraft are classified by what they are physically doing - Climbing out, on approach, or holding at cruise overhead. For gate numbers and scheduled times, check with GRU directly or your airline.

Departing now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
E49BFC — route not published on stand or taxiing — 6 kts
TAM3556 — route not published climbing out 5,425 ft 200 kts
TAM3276 — route not published climbing out 7,325 ft 196 kts
GLO7644 GOL Linhas Aéreas route not published climbing out 11,625 ft 245 kts
PSBRE — route not published on stand or taxiing — 10 kts
TAM3924 — route not published on stand or taxiing 2,350 ft 6 kts
TAM3158 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 8 kts
TAM3629 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 3 kts

Arriving now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
N — route not published on approach 2,775 ft 39 kts
GLO1245 GOL Linhas Aéreas route not published on approach 4,550 ft 148 kts
PSVLC — route not published on approach 2,550 ft 131 kts
PSFSD — route not published on approach 9,600 ft 339 kts

Overhead and in the area

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
GLO1207 GOL Linhas Aéreas route not published in the area 9,000 ft 241 kts
PSEII — route not published in the area 3,350 ft 136 kts
PSZAA — route not published in the area 4,250 ft 220 kts
AZU6025 — route not published in the area 6,725 ft 264 kts
43.0M
Annual passengers (reference)
2
Runways
3
Terminals
2461 ft
Field elevation

About GRU

South America's busiest airport and the continent's principal long-haul gateway, hub for LATAM Brasil. It handles the bulk of Brazil's intercontinental traffic to Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East. The airport serves the largest metropolitan economy in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sao Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport opened in January 1985 on the grounds of the Cumbica air force base, built to relieve the overwhelmed Congonhas airport in the city center and Viracopos far to the west. Locals still routinely call it Cumbica.

The airport was later officially named for Andre Franco Montoro, a former governor of Sao Paulo state. From the start it took over Brazil's intercontinental traffic, growing with the country's economy to become the busiest airport in Brazil and the leading international gateway of South America.

Two terminals from the original design were progressively expanded. The transformative moment came in 2012, when the airport was concessioned to the private GRU Airport consortium. In 2014, when the modern Terminal 3 opened just in time for the FIFA World Cup hosted by Brazil.

Guarulhos became the principal hub of LATAM Brasil and a major base for Gol, while nearly every global long-haul carrier serving Brazil lands there. Today it combines dense domestic trunk routes with the continent's richest long-haul network. Its cargo terminal ranks among the most important in Latin America.

How GRU operates today

Guarulhos operates two parallel runways, 09L/27R and 09R/27L, spaced so closely that they cannot handle simultaneous independent operations, which caps peak-hour capacity. Terminal 3 hosts most long-haul and alliance carriers, while Terminals 1 and 2 handle domestic and regional flights.

It is LATAM's largest hub and a key Gol base, funneling connections between Brazilian cities and the world. The airport sits about 25 kilometers northeast of central Sao Paulo, with notorious road traffic in between. Its cargo complex processes a huge share of Brazil's high-value imports and exports.

Top routes from GRU

DestinationMain airlinesWhy it matters
Brasilia (BSB) LATAM, Gol, Azul A high-frequency domestic trunk route linking Brazil's business capital with its political capital.
Recife (REC) LATAM, Gol, Azul One of the busiest links between Brazil's southeast and its populous northeast.
Miami (MIA) LATAM, American Airlines The classic Brazil-USA trunk route for business, shopping and connections.
Santiago (SCL) LATAM, JetSmart A core artery of LATAM's South American network across the Andes.
Lisbon (LIS) TAP Air Portugal, LATAM The strongest Europe link, built on deep Brazil-Portugal ties and TAP's connecting hub.

Facts about GRU

  • Locals still call the airport Cumbica, after the air force base whose land it occupies.
  • It handles more international traffic than any other airport in South America.
  • Terminal 3 opened just in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
  • Its two parallel runways are too close together to be used independently at the same time.

Plane spotting at GRU

There is no official viewing deck, but spotters work the perimeter near the runway 09 thresholds, where the morning arrival bank delivers a parade of widebodies from Europe, North America and the Middle East. New to spotting? Start with our aircraft identification guide and the world's best spotting airports.

IATA / ICAO
GRU / SBGR
Location
São Paulo, Brazil -23.436, -46.473
Time zone
America/Sao_Paulo
Opened
1985
Hub for
LATAM Airlines Brasil, GOL Linhas Aéreas
Website
www.gru.com.br

Airlines hubbed at GRU

LA · LAN LATAM Airlines Chile G3 · GLO GOL Linhas Aéreas Brazil

Tracked flights using GRU

Selected scheduled services whose curated route starts, ends or stops at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport.

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
AA950 MIA → GRU Boeing 777-200ERTrack AA950 →
AM15 MEX → GRU Boeing 787-8Track AM15 →
CM224 PTY → GRU Boeing 737 MAX 9Track CM224 →
G37600 GRU → MIA Boeing 737 MAX 8Track G37600 →
G37650 GRU → MCO Boeing 737 MAX 8Track G37650 →
G37402 GRU → EZE Boeing 737-800Track G37402 →
AF454 CDG → GRU Boeing 777-300ERTrack AF454 →
IB6025 MAD → GRU Airbus A330-300Track IB6025 →

Nearby and related airports

Geographically close airports and useful alternatives in Brazil.

CGH São Paulo/Congonhas Airport São Paulo, Brazil SDU Santos Dumont Airport Rio de Janeiro, Brazil BSB Brasília - Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport Brasília, Brazil EZE Ministro Pistarini International Airport Buenos Aires, Argentina

More airports and guides connected to GRU

Most of the tails you see here belong to LATAM Airlines. How a field like this runs day to day is covered in how airports work. Nearby, São Paulo (CGH) serves the same country. The codes GRU and SBGR are explained in airport codes decoded.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

Passenger, runway, terminal and hub figures are maintained as a reviewed reference snapshot, not a live operational record. Check the airport directly before travelling.

Read our airport data sourcing and review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Frequently asked questions about GRU

What is the airport code for São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport?

São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport uses the IATA code GRU on tickets and baggage tags, and the ICAO code SBGR in flight plans and on radar. The leading “S” in SBGR is the region marker: ICAO codes are grouped geographically, which is why airports near each other usually share their first letter or two while their IATA codes look unrelated.

How many runways does GRU have?

São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport operates 2 runways across 3 passenger terminals. The field sits at 2,461 ft above sea level.

How busy is GRU?

This reference profile lists roughly 43.0 million annual passengers for São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport. You can see aircraft observed departing, arriving and overhead on this page, taken from live ADS-B broadcasts.

Which airlines are based at GRU?

LATAM Airlines, GOL Linhas Aéreas treat GRU as a hub or major base. Many other carriers serve the airport without basing aircraft there.

How many terminals does GRU have?

This reference lists São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport with 3 passenger terminals. Check the airport or operating airline for the terminal assigned to a specific flight.

What time zone is GRU in?

São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport runs on America/Sao_Paulo, currently UTC-3. Flight trackers work in UTC internally, so the seven-day history on our flight pages is stamped UTC while the boards on this page are in GRU local time - worth remembering when the two disagree by a whole calendar day.

Can I track flights at GRU live?

Yes. The map on this page shows every aircraft broadcasting its position within about 55 km of São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, and there are 23 in range as this page loaded. The boards split them into departures, arrivals and traffic passing overhead, all timed in America/Sao_Paulo.