Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport

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Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport
Galeão International Airport
IATA: GIG - ICAO: SBGL
Summary
Airport type Public/Military
Operator Infraero and Brazilian Air Force
Serves Rio de Janeiro
Elevation AMSL 28 ft (9 m)
Coordinates 22°48′32″S, 43°14′37″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
10/28 13,123 4,000 Concrete
15/33 10,433 3,180 Asphalt

Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (IATA: GIG, ICAO: SBGL) better known as Galeão International Airport is Rio de Janeiro's major international airport. The airport has its name appended after the late Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Jobim.

Built in 1952 on Governador Island, approximately twenty kilometres from the city center, the airport by 1970 was Brazil's major air-hub. In that year its administration was taken on by Infraero, recently created by the Brazilian government. In 1977, by which time it received all of Brazil's international flights, the airport underwent a major renovation. For passengers bound for São Paulo, Brazil's main domestic hub, then served only by the smaller Congonhas International Airport, this meant taking at least one connecting flight — two connecting flights if their destination was anywhere else in the country.

In 1985 the airport lost the title of Brazil's major international airport to São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport, causing a drop in passengers to/from abroad. Nevertheless, Infraero built a second terminal at a cost of US$600 million, capable of handling 7.5 million passengers annually, more than doubling the airport's capacity. Until the year of 2004, passenger numbers have been stable at about 4.5 million per year, but this number has increased since then, and Galeão International Airport in 2006 had a movement of nearly 9 million passengers.

Galeão, as Infraero's second-most idle and money-losing airport (along with Confins International Airport), is considered by many to be a waste of resources. At the same time the new terminal was opened, Guarulhos was overloaded, operating at 102% of capacity, against the 24% of Galeão. Infraero was criticized for not investing resources appropriately. However, since late 2004, most flights from the overloaded Santos Dumont Regional Airport were reassigned to Galeão, and it currently uses 57% of its capacity, and the 10 millions passengers mark is expected to be achieved in the following year of 2007.

The airport is also a second international hub for Varig.

[edit] General information

  • two terminals (in an elliptical format, with twelve jetways each) capable of handling 7.5 million passengers annually
  • 2005 — 8.6 million passengers
  • 2006 — 8.75 million passengers

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] External links

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