How São Paulo’s Terminal BTG Pactual Is Rewriting the LatAm Airport Playbook


Skift Take

Terminal BTG Pactual signals a structural power shift in premium travel, as control moves from airlines to independent operators that own the airport experience before passengers ever board.

Series: On Experience

On Experience

Colin Nagy is a marketing strategist and writes on customer-centric experiences and innovation across the luxury sector, hotels, aviation, and beyond. You can read all of his writing here.

Terminal BTG Pactual in São Paulo isn't just another VIP lounge with better snacks. It's a complete parallel universe to commercial aviation — a standalone 2,400-square-meter building with its own inverted wing roofs, native Brazilian gardens, and a 40-year concession from Guarulhos International Airport. 

Its rapid success suggests the LatAm premium travel market was waiting for someone brave enough to build it.

In a little over a year after opening in December 2024, Latin America's first fully independent private terminal is already operating at capacity, with customers paying $590 per visit. The value proposition mirrors what PS offers at LAX: Terminal BTG Pactual's customers never see the main airport. 

But unlike PS's Salon — which now starts at $1,295 per person in a shared lounge — the Terminal delivers a fully private experience at a lower price point, in a market where the gap between commercial airport dysfunction and passeng