São Paulo’s GRU Airport Retakes Latin America’s No. 1 Spot

After losing the crown to Bogotá in 2024, São Paulo’s Guarulhos airport has reclaimed its title as Latin America’s busiest. Fresh statistics released by concessionaire GRU Airport show the hub handled 47.2 million passengers in 2025, an all-time record for the 41-year-old facility and an 8.3% jump from the prior year.

This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Latin American news and Latin American financial news.

The result puts Guarulhos ahead of Bogotá’s El Dorado (45.5 million) and Mexico City’s Benito Juárez (43.6 million), the two airports that had traded the top spot in recent years. International traffic was the standout, reaching 16.8 million passengers across 55 regular routes to every continent. New connections to Doha, Los Angeles and Johannesburg helped drive the surge, alongside Brazil’s expanded e-visa arrangements with markets including China and the UAE.

The numbers reflect Brazil’s post-pandemic aviation recovery more broadly. Regional passenger traffic across Latin America and the Caribbean topped 773 million in 2024, surpassing 2019 levels by over 12%, according to the Airports Council International. Brazil’s domestic market, powered by LATAM, Gol and the low-cost carrier Azul, remains the largest on the continent.

To keep pace, GRU Airport has confirmed a R$ 2.55 billion ($490 million) expansion program co-funded with Brazil’s Ministry of Ports and Airports. The centerpiece is a new 33,000-square-meter pier for Terminal 3 with 14 wide-body gates, designed to add roughly 11 million passengers of annual capacity when it opens in late 2026. Terminal 2’s departure hall is also being enlarged, runway maintenance and new taxiways are underway, and the concessionaire is building a hotel and multi-story car park to improve passenger services.

The construction is not without friction. Airspace saturation at Guarulhos has revived debate over a fourth runway, a proposal shelved in 2018 over environmental objections. With São Paulo hosting major international conferences in 2027, slot pressure during peak periods is expected to intensify.

For the region’s aviation industry, the ranking reshuffle is a reminder that Latin America’s biggest airports are growing in lockstep and competing fiercely for connecting traffic. Bogotá invested heavily in El Dorado’s expansion to claim the top spot in 2024, and Mexico City’s long-delayed Felipe Ángeles airport is still absorbing overflow. Guarulhos is back on top. Keeping it there will depend on whether the concrete can keep up with the demand.

For more context, read Brazil’s Morning Call and the Latin American Pulse.