Ready for Rio

Every two years, the greatest athletes in the world gather together to compete in the Olympic Games. Inspired by the ancient Olympic Games held in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD, the International Olympic Committee was founded in 1894 and has grown the concept of the games far beyond the original: today, the additions of the Winter Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the Youth Olympic Games allow for many more athletes to participate. The 2016 Summer Olympic Games will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 5 – 21.

Traveling to the Games

Meric Reese, Jet Linx Aviation Flight Coordination Manager, is the in-house expert on travel to the Games. Because of the expected amount of traffic, special precautions will need to be made to ensure travel is as smooth as possible. “One thing that is different is that they are going to establish what are called ‘gateway airports’ to alleviate a lot of the burden on customs, immigration, and quarantine people in Rio itself,” Reese said. Flights going into Rio will stop short of Rio and go through the regular international processes there before flying into Rio. Additionally, there will be a major difference between a trip to Rio for the Olympics and a normal trip to the city. “At this point in time, there is no general aviation parking that will be permitted at the Games unless you are traveling with somebody who is on a diplomatic passport or diplomatic visa, or who has some sort of official designation for the Olympics themselves,” he said. “It’s always subject to change, but at this point they are going to make everybody drop off passengers and move airplanes elsewhere.” Because of the gateway airports, additional considerations may be at play. “The gateway airports will likely be far away from Rio, potentially in the Amazon region of Brazil,” Reese said. “One of the requirements to enter the U.S. from one of those areas is that you need to have a yellow fever vaccination. Passengers would need to check on the requirements with timing to make sure they could re-enter the U.S.”

In addition to the changes in parking aircraft in Rio, pricing for other services will likely change. “There are rumors, although it’s probably going to be true, of extremely inflated pricing for landing, parking, handling, and more,” Reese explained. “Accommodations are already booked up: what currently exists in Rio has been booked up for quite some time, so there are basically none available. Most people are going to move their airplane to somewhere that can provide somewhat safe and normal crew accommodations.” Crew may be able to find suitable accommodations elsewhere in Brazil. And while alternative lodging like Airbnb may be available, it’s difficult to check the veracity of arrangements and Reese recommended caution if choosing unconventional housing.

Restrictions on entering Brazil have been temporary alleviated for the Games: while visitors from the U.S. would previously have to obtain a tourist visa, that won’t be the case for much of this summer. “They passed a law a few months ago that actually waived the rule temporarily: starting June 1 and going through September 18, passengers won’t be required to have visas,” Reese noted. “Still, depending on the airport you are working with, crew members who will be in the country for over 10 days will still have to have a crew visa for travel into Brazil, which is the normal requirement, even though the law was supposed to apply to crew members as well.” In order to make sure the crew and passengers are able to access any airport at Brazil, Jet Linx will arrange for all crew members going to Rio to have valid crew visas. “That said, we’re not really sure how long it is going to take to get those, and at this point in time it may be difficult,” Reese continued. “It would still be possible to do a trip to the Olympics, but it would be extremely challenging. You would have to be flexible and have a lot of patience.”