You see them by the dozens every day over Sao Paulo, and they are not filled with sightseers but commuters trying to get to work on time.

Isabella Aquino, an obstetrician, tells CNBC that without helicopters, life in Sao Paulo would be “chaos because (there are) so many cars and so many people.”

Aquino has increasingly turned to helicopters to get to deliveries on time. When she needs to get across the city, babies can't wait. “In a helicopter it takes about 12 minutes. In my car it depends on the traffic but it is about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.”

There are more registered helicopters in Sao Paulo than any other city in the world; 593 to be exact, surpassing New York and Tokyo in just the last five years.

The key reason — traffic is horrendous.

Brazil's strong growth lead to record car sales last year, and in some months monthly sales are rising 30% year over year. But road construction has not kept pace. Add to that high levels of crime, which make sitting in traffic particularly risky.