MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sao Paulo Airport's Main Runway Shut for Repairs

The main runway at Brazil's biggest international airport was shut today and will remain closed for almost two months while construction crews rebuild the tarmac to improve safety.

Infraero, which operates Brazil's airports, will spend 13 million reais ($6.4 million) to repave the runway, the agency said on its Web site. Planes will use the secondary runway at the airport in Guarulhos, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from downtown Sao Paulo, until the main runway reopens on Oct. 10. The government is facing increased pressure to improve airport and air-traffic conditions after a deadly plane crash last month. Airlines were forced to divert flights to Guarulhos after a TAM SA plane crashed July 17 while trying to land in the rain at Congonhas, Sao Paulo's domestic airport. The accident, Brazil's worst aviation disaster, killed all 187 people on board and another 12 on the ground. The repaved runway will have grooves to prevent water from accumulating on the tarmac