Sexy times at the airport

I know. Airports aren’t generally thought of as sexy places. I guess there must be a few ‘aerophiles’ out there, a few lonely people who sit for hours on end identifying passenger jets and writing down aircraft registration numbers in books. But for the rest of us, visiting an airport is a fairly unexciting experience of waiting for people or planes.


Well here in Rio there is another, infinitely more tedious experience waiting for you at the airport: the offices of the Polícia Federal (PF). The Federal Police are responsible for dealing with visa applications and other issues related to estrangeiros (foreigners) and my wife and I have spent many, many hours sitting, waiting, pleading and complaining in their offices. Maybe I will bore you another day with a more detailed account of my experiences at the PF, but for now let’s just say that it’s a painful experience and usually leads to stress, exasperation and arguments.


‘So where does the sexy part come in?’ I hear you demand with libidinous impatience. Well that’s where this smoky-voiced lady comes in…

This was Íris Lettieri back in 1974. She has a sexy voice.

Íris Lettieri, born in Rio in 1941, was the first female newsreader in Brazil. She went on to present a variety of news programmes into the mid 1980s. But nowadays she is better known as a voz do aeroporto, (The Voice of the Airport). Her sultry tones have been used in Rio’s international airport (Galeão) since 1977 and I’m very happy to say that those recordings are still in use today. You can also hear her velvet-vocals at Rio’s other airport (Santos Dumont), São Paulo International, Manaus and a few others. 


OK, so you’ve seen the face, and you have a little background. I’m guessing you’re ready to hear the voice! This little gem brightened up our wait in the airport this morning. I particularly like the way she says “9” and “0” – smouldering! (click the pink link): 

Transcript: “Gol Flight 1-9-8-0 [sniggering] to Fortaleza and Teresina – final call, gate 5″


I’m sorry the audio is a bit crackly, but I hope you can pick up the sensual nature of her delivery. I managed to dig out a much clearer clip on youtube. My ‘listening notes’ would point you to pay special attention to her treatment of Lisboa (at 22 and 57 seconds) – makes me go a little bit weak at the knees. 

If you ever get the chance to hear Íris speak, I urge you to take a moment to appreciate her skills. When asked about her sexy delivery she said that she purposely chose to ‘sex-up’ her voice to distract passengers who were nervous about flying. I can’t think of a nicer form of distraction. How can you be thinking anxious thoughts when you hear Íris purr the word Campinas? 


[if you want to hear more of Íris, go to her website and click a few links on the Área de Atuação – it is peppered with velvet covered vocal gems]