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71-513: Santos Dumont Airport ( IATA : SDU , ICAO : SBRJ ) is the second major airport serving Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . It is named after the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932). It is operated by Infraero . Originally known as Calabouço Airport , the history of the airport can be traced back to the early 1930s. Until that time, the few aircraft equipped with landing gear used Manguinhos Airport . Seaplanes , which at

142-400: A growing number of land operations, land was reclaimed from the sea to create the first runway of the airport with a length of 1,300 feet (400 m). In 1936, the runway was extended to 2,300 feet (700 m) and on 30 November it received its first commercial flight, a VASP Junkers Ju 52 aircraft flying from São Paulo–Congonhas . The airport complex was inaugurated on 16 October 1936 and

213-460: A maximum of 19 operations/hour, being one of the five airports with such restrictions in Brazil. On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million (US$ 80.2 million; EUR64.5 million) investment plan to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal. The plan focused on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup , which was held in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro being one of

284-487: A meeting between INEA and Infraero held on 3 September 2009, the following compromise was reached: approach route 2 is used only when specific wind conditions that amount to 30% of total operations so require; the airport is closed between 23:00 and 06:00 hours: aircraft may depart or arrive until 22:30 hours, giving a half-hour tolerance period; and the maximum number of flights per hour was reduced from 23 to 19. Furthermore, Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operating with

355-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

426-738: A replacement for the original passenger terminal and was used by all airlines except Panair do Brasil and Pan American World Airways, which used their own facilities. Owing to the obsolescence of seaplanes, it ceased to be used in 1942. Today, this protected building houses the Historical and Cultural Institute of the Brazilian Air Force (INCAER). Adjoining the original seaplane terminal, Pan American World Airways and its Brazilian subsidiary Panair do Brasil constructed their own dedicated terminal for seaplanes and aircraft with landing gear. This terminal opened in 1937 featuring architecture inspired by

497-528: A second phase, Galeão. The plan was confirmed on 31 May 2011, and it was added that Infraero would retain 49% of the shares of each privatized airport. On 22 November 2013, the Brazilian Government had a bidding process to determine the airport's private operator from 2014 until 2039. The Group Aeroporto Rio de Janeiro, also known as RIOgaleão, formed by Grupo Odebrecht (60%) and Singaporean operator Changi Airport Group (40%) paid R$ 19 billion and won

568-475: A single day. It is estimated that on 22 August 2016, 85,000 passengers transited at the airport facilities. On 10 February 2022, the concessionary requested the devolution of the facility. The request was approved by the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil on 25 May 2022. A new bidding process is expected to take place in 2023. On 27 May 2022, TAP Maintenance & Engineering closed

639-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

710-404: Is also located in the area and all-cargo aircraft usually park at its adjoining apron. The whole complex is now informally known as the "old Galeão". In the beginning of the 1970s, the airport was Brazil's major international and domestic air-hub. Between 1973 and 1987 the airport was managed by ARSA, until ARSA was incorporated by Infraero on 27 February 1987, an agency then recently created by

781-600: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

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852-495: Is considered to be provisory, until a balance is reached. Airlines started cancelling and/or moving services to Galeão in September 2023. Following resistance from the international aviation community, on November 8, 2023 the restrictions were reversed and replaced by an annual cap of 6.5 million passengers transiting at Santos Dumont Airport, starting in 2024. The facility covers a total of 1,788.2 hectares (4,419 acres ), being

923-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

994-425: Is famous for having some of the shortest runways on which some Boeing and Airbus aircraft can land. An idea of these operations is given in the 007–James Bond film Moonraker of 1979, in which a Lockheed L-188 Electra briefly appears taking-off from the airport. Due to a fire that almost destroyed the main terminal in 1999, the passenger terminal building was closed for 6 months. On 26 May 2007, in time for

1065-650: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

1136-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

1207-588: Is located 20 km (12 mi) north of downtown Rio de Janeiro . There are executive (blue) and ordinary (yellow) taxis available and bookable on company booths at arrival halls of both terminals. TransCarioca line of the BRT integrated public transportation system links Terminals 1 and 2 with Terminal Alvorada in Barra da Tijuca with an intermediate stop at the Line 2 subway Vicente de Carvalho station , where one can access

1278-570: Is located adjacent to downtown Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro Light Rail has a terminal station at the airport connecting the airport with downtown area, the subway system , the Central Railway Station , and Central Bus Station . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency [REDACTED] Media related to Santos Dumont Airport at Wikimedia Commons IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

1349-421: Is not feasible as if an ILS was installed on runways 02L/02R, the glide path would head through Sugarloaf. This means that aircraft have to negotiate the mountainous terrain beyond the two runways by either: a. flying over the bay entrance, then quickly swerving behind Sugarloaf on to the runway glide path, or b. fly over central Rio and negotiate the mountainous terrain not just around Sugarloaf, but also around

1420-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1491-468: Is the main international airport serving Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. The airport was originally named after the neighborhood of Galeão : Praia do Galeão (Galleon Beach) is located in front of the original passenger terminal (the present passenger terminal of the Brazilian Air Force ). This beach is the location where the galleon Padre Eterno was built in 1663. On January 5, 1999 the name

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1562-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1633-573: The 2007 Pan American Games , a brand-new, modern extension of the original terminal was opened. This extension handles all departure operations, whilst the original terminal now handles all arrival operations. The new departures terminal increased the total capacity of the airport to 8.0 million passengers/year. It was announced on 5 August 2009 that in order to renew its operational licence the Rio de Janeiro State Environment Institute (INEA) would require Santos Dumont Airport to adjust operational standards. After

1704-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1775-544: The United Nations Earth Summit held in 1992. Its annual capacity was increased to 7.5 million passengers a year. On 20 July 1999, Passenger Terminal 2 was opened. The airport has those two passenger terminals in elliptical format, each with twelve jetways and capable of handling 7.5 million passengers annually. On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a R$ 819 million ( US$ 431 million; € 302 million) investment plan to upgrade Galeão International Airport focusing on

1846-555: The Brazilian government. Infraero was the administrator until 2013. As proof of the airport's prestige, the Concorde made its scheduled maiden flight with Air France on 21 January 1976, flying from Paris–Charles de Gaulle to Galeão via Dakar . Those twice-weekly flights were discontinued in 1982. Furthermore, the 007 – James Bond production Moonraker (1979) shows the Concorde touching down at Galeão. On 6 June 1967, in response to

1917-495: The Civil Aviation National Council issued an order to restrict Santos Dumont services to airports located within 400km maximum from Rio de Janeiro and without international services. The resolution came into force on January 1, 2024, and was considered to be provisory, until a balance was reached. Airlines started cancelling and/or moving services to Galeão in September 2023. Using the opportunity of reduced traffic,

1988-708: The Galeão Air Force Base; a terminal and hangars were built and the runway extended. Those buildings still exist and Galeão Air Force Base is still active. When Brazil declared war against the Axis on 22 August 1942, the aerodrome began to be used intensely by the Allies for military operations related to World War II. At the end of the war, Santos Dumont Airport was unable to handle the increased tonnage of aircraft flying on international routes and number of passengers. For this reason, international flights were gradually moved to

2059-586: The Pan American Seaplane Base and Terminal Building in Miami. It included a passenger terminal, offices and hangars. It remained the headquarters of Panair do Brasil until the airline was forced to cease its operations in 1965. It is now the headquarters of the Third Regional Air Command of the Brazilian Air Force . On July 21, 1953, within a law prescribing rules for the naming of airports,

2130-510: The Railway and Ferry stations and Santos Dumont Airport . Viação 1001 operates the urban bus line 761-D from the airport to Niterói . Furthermore, the same company operates an executive service to Armação dos Búzios four times a day. Departure is from the arrivals level of Terminal 1. Ordinary city busses 924 and 925 operate to the neighborhood of Ilha do Governador , and 915 to Bonsucesso . From both neighborhoods there are connections to

2201-637: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Rio de Janeiro%E2%80%93Gale%C3%A3o International Airport Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport ( IATA : GIG , ICAO : SBGL ), popularly known by its original name Galeão International Airport ,

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2272-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2343-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2414-480: The airport partially using runways 10/28 for this purpose. However, the circuit was not included in the 2023 Stock Car Pro Series calendar due to the increase of flights after the COVID-19 pandemic . Galeão was the primary airport of Rio de Janeiro, being the much smaller Santos Dumont Airport the secondary facility until 2019. In 2020 positions inverted and in 2022 Santos Dumont was accounting for approximately 63% of

2485-410: The airport was receiving most of Brazil's major international flights, this new terminal was opened and all scheduled passenger flights were transferred to the new building. This building is known today as Passenger Terminal 1. One of the features dating from this time is the sultry PA system announcements made by Iris Lettieri, which were featured on National Public Radio . In 1985, the airport lost

2556-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2627-607: The central west of Rio. A highlight of Santos Dumont Airport is the modern departure lounge, the first in the country to be completely covered with transparent material, which provides a wide view of Guanabara Bay , where it is possible to see tourist attractions such as the Rio-Niterói Bridge , Fiscal Island , the Museum of Contemporary Art , the city of Niterói , the Naval School and Sugarloaf Mountain . Santos Dumont Airport

2698-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

2769-446: The competition. The contract was signed on 2 April 2014. The new concessionary, RIOgaleão, has revised, modified and upgraded those plans to include the construction of a new pier with 26 new bridges, a new apron for 97 aircraft, and 2,640 car-parking spaces have been added in 2016–17, which would sum up to R$ 2 billion reais. One day after the closure of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Galeão handled an all-time record of passengers on

2840-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

2911-572: The entire subway system . At Alvorada one can transfer between the TransCarioca and TransOeste lines. The system operates 24 hours a day and tickets are sold in the BRT booths on the arrivals level. BRT integrated public transportation operates an express line to Gentileza Intermodal Terminal (TIG), adjacent to Novo Rio Bus Terminal . At TIG, several urban bus lines and Rio de Janeiro Light Rail system are easily accessible. The latter has connections to

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2982-407: The facility at Galeão which it had operated since 2006. This maintenance center was previously owned by Varig . On 7 July 2022, United Airlines was announced as the new owner of the facility. In April 2022, the airport was used for Stock Car Pro Series automobile racing. Cacá Bueno Circuit , named after Cacá Bueno , Rio de Janeiro-born and 5 times Stock Car Brasil champion, was built within

3053-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

3124-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3195-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

3266-483: The government of the state of Rio de Janeiro to reverse the trend. As a result, after stagnating for years embittered by the loss of domestic flights to Santos Dumont Airport and international flights to São Paulo–Guarulhos Airport, Galeão has – since late 2004 – gradually recovered its importance in the national and international spheres with addition of flights and airlines. During the year 1991, Passenger Terminal 1 underwent its first major renovation in preparation for

3337-461: The gradual shift of international operations to Galeão Airport , opened in 1952, Rio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont lost its place as an international hub, but for many years retained its position of a major hub for domestic traffic, particularly until 1960, when the capital of Brazil was moved to Brasília . The airport handles only part of Rio's short-to-medium haul domestic air traffic, and part of its general aviation and military operations. The airport

3408-616: The growth of air traffic in Brazil, the Brazilian government initiated studies concerning the renovation of airport infrastructure in the country. As part of the conclusions of these studies, because of their location, strategic importance, and security issues, new passenger facilities would be constructed in the Galeão Air Force Base in Rio de Janeiro and the São Paulo Air Force Base in São Paulo . On 20 January 1977, when

3479-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

3550-485: The largest airport site in terms of area in Brazil. Since November 2016, the check-in and baggage claim areas of Terminal 1 are not in use. All passengers must use Terminal 2 to access the boarding gates of any terminal. Note: : Flights operated with Voepass equipment on behalf of LATAM Brasil . Following is the number of passenger, aircraft and cargo movements at the airport, according to Infraero (2007-2013) and RIOgaleão (2014-2023) reports: The airport

3621-429: The list, Galeão was considered to be in good situation, operating with less than 70% of its capacity. Like most South American airports operated by government-owned operators, Galeão had high operating costs per passenger. On 26 April 2011, it was confirmed that in order to speed-up much needed renovation and upgrade works, private companies would be granted a concession to operate some Infraero airports among them, on

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3692-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

3763-491: The name of the facility was officially and exceptionally maintained as Santos Dumont Airport. On 21 May 1959 a formal agreement between Varig , Cruzeiro do Sul , and VASP created an air shuttle service ( Portuguese : Ponte Aérea ), the first of its kind in the world. This service operated between Rio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont Airport and São Paulo–Congonhas and comprised regular hourly departures, common check-in counter, and simplified tickets and formalities. The service

3834-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

3905-440: The preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which was held in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics , which Rio de Janeiro would host. The investment was supposed to be distributed as follows: Responding to critiques to the situation of its airports, on May 18, 2011, Infraero released a list evaluating some of its most important airports according to its saturation levels. According to

3976-484: The previous operator. The new concessionary has been using the brand name RIOgaleão–Aeroporto Internacional Tom Jobim . Some of its facilities are shared with the Galeão Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force. On 10 May 1923, a School of Naval Aviation was established near Galeão beach on Governador Island . On 22 May 1941, with the creation of the Brazilian Air Force Ministry, the school became

4047-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

4118-449: The same resolution authorized the upgrade works of Runway End Safety Areas applying engineered materials arrestor system . Following resistance from the international aviation community, on November 8, 2023 these restrictions were reversed and replaced by an annual cap of 6,5 million passengers starting in 2024. Following is the number of passenger, aircraft and cargo movements at the airport, according to Infraero reports: The airport

4189-461: The site of the Air Force Base. The services were however precarious and a decision was made to build a brand new passenger terminal, opposite to the Air Force Base, across the runway. On 1 February 1952, the new passenger terminal was opened and remained in use with enlargements until 1977. This terminal is used presently by passenger flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force. The cargo terminal

4260-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

4331-467: The time operated the majority of domestic and international flights, used a terminal located at the Calabouço Point, an area known today as Praça Marechal Âncora. Take-off and landings were made using an area of Guanabara Bay then known as estirão do Caju ( Caju water stretch ). It was as a development of the terminal at Calabouço Point that Calabouço Airport was created. In 1934, in order to handle

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4402-477: The title of the country's major international airport to the newly-opened São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport . At that time, a new runway allowing intercontinental flights with no weight restrictions was opened in São Paulo and Brazilian and foreign airlines increasingly used São Paulo as a national and international hub. As a consequence, the number of transiting passengers dropped. Constant efforts were made by

4473-491: The total traffic of Greater Rio de Janeiro , spread into three airports. In 2022 Santos Dumont reached 10,178,502 transported passengers whereas Galeão had only 5,895,257. In order to control and revert this abnormal trend, on August 10, 2023 the Civil Aviation National Council issued an order to restrict Santos Dumont services to airports located within 400 km maximum from Rio de Janeiro and without international services. The resolution came into force on January 1, 2024, and

4544-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

4615-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

4686-404: The venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics . The renovation was completed in 2013. Whilst this airport is quite conveniently located very close to the city centre, the location is problematic because aircraft have Sugarloaf Mountain on the direct approach path, meaning that whilst installing an ILS system would be feasible because of the relatively clear approach path onto runways 20L/20R, it

4757-464: Was an instant success. Transbrasil joined the partnership in 1968. Starting in 1975 the service was operated exclusively by Varig's Lockheed L-188 Electra propjets. In 1999 this service came to an end because airlines decided to operate their own independent services. Over the years, the airport's main runway has been extended several times, first to 2,300 feet (700 m), then to 3,000 feet (910 m), and finally 4,340 feet (1,320 m). With

4828-408: Was changed adding a tribute to the Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim . Galeão Airport is explicitly mentioned in his composition Samba do Avião . Since August 12, 2014 the airport has been operated by the concessionary Rio Galeão, a consortium formed by the Brazilian investor Odebrecht and Changi Airport Group , with a minority participation of the government owned company Infraero ,

4899-400: Was completed. This building continues to be used to the present day. In the lobby of this terminal, (now the arrivals terminal) two monumental paintings by Cadmo Fausto de Sousa can be seen. Named "Old Aviation" and "Modern Aviation", they feature many old and new means of flying. Both were unveiled in 1951. A new public terminal building for seaplanes was inaugurated on 29 October 1938. It was

4970-466: Was named Santos Dumont Airport. It was also in 1936 that the construction of a new passenger terminal began. It was a project led by the architects MMM Roberto (Marcelo, Milton and Mauricio Roberto Doria-Baptista) inspired in the Paris–Le Bourget Airport terminal. Its pioneering, modernist, architectural features created a Brazilian national landmark. It was only in 1947 that its construction

5041-489: Was the secondary airport of Rio de Janeiro, the much larger Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport being the primary facility until 2019. In 2020 positions inverted and in 2022 Santos Dumont was accounting for approximately 63% of the total traffic of Greater Rio de Janeiro , spread into three airports. In 2022 Santos Dumont reached 10,178,502 transported passengers whereas Galeão had only 5,895,257. In order to control and revert this abnormal trend, on August 10, 2023

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