Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport
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| Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport Aeroporto Internacional de Congonhas/São Paulo |
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| IATA: CGH – ICAO: SBSP | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Infraero | ||
| Location | São Paulo | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 802 m / 2,631 ft | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 17R/35L | 1,940 | 6,365 | Asphalt |
| 17L/35R | 1,435 | 4,708 | Asphalt |
Congonhas/São Paulo International Airport or Congonhas Airport (IATA: CGH, ICAO: SBSP) is one of São Paulo's three commercial airports, situated 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the city downtown at Washington Luís Avenue, in Campo Belo district. It is owned by the City of São Paulo and managed by Infraero. In 2007, it was the busiest airport in Brazil in terms of aircraft movements and the second busiest in terms of passengers, handling 205,130 aircraft movements and 15,244,401 passengers [1].
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[edit] History
The airport's name came from a plant that used to be common in the area where the airport was built. The airport was initially planned in 1919, but it did not open until September 12, 1936. By 1957, the airport was the third busiest in the world for cargo and freight. The passenger terminal's central hall is considered one of the most outstanding examples of modern architecture in São Paulo. However, modernizing and enlargement works conducted at the terminal from 2003 onwards, while trying to preserve the look of the older, historic section, still made the latter lose much of its former character.
Congonhas Airport is the main hub of Brazil's largest airlines: TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas), Gol Transportes Aéreos and Varig.
[edit] Importance to the city
Congonhas was São Paulo's main airport until 1985, when São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport was built because of congestion at Congonhas and because the latter's short runways could not handle the large aircraft required for long-haul flights.
In spite of that, Congonhas Airport continues to be important to the city for regional and short-distance domestic flights. Given the concentration of Brazil's economy in the Central-Southern region, where São Paulo is located, such flights make up the greatest share of the country's domestic air traffic. Therefore, even after Guarulhos International Airport was opened, Congonhas continued to face congestion problems (and still does), regarding both the number of passengers and the number of flight operations. In spite of continuing modernization works, it is a small and outdated airport for today's standards, and its relatively short runways cannot be extended because of the sheer urban growth of São Paulo, which has completely surrounded and engulfed the airport.
Indeed, the view from the landing approach to Congonhas can be spectacular, with the airplane flying very low over massive clusters of tall skyscrapers, especially when the plane approaches from the north. It is the short distance from downtown and from the major business areas of Paulista, Faria Lima and Luís Carlos Berrini avenues that still makes Congonhas a favorite of passengers, especially business travelers, much in the same way as Ronald Reagan National Airport next to Washington, D.C. and LaGuardia Airport in New York.
[edit] Former international operations
The airport still keeps the "International" designation in its official name, and until the 1980s it did operate direct international flights to neighbouring countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, as well as intercontinental flights through connections at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport. However, since the opening of Guarulhos Airport, international flights are no longer operated (or even allowed) at Congonhas.
With a much longer runway and better weather conditions, Viracopos International Airport was the main international airport serving São Paulo until 1985, but its very distant location in Campinas, 100 km (62 miles) from downtown São Paulo, made it very inconvenient for passengers and airlines - so much that most international passengers preferred to board instead a flight from Congonhas Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão (or vice versa), connecting with their international flights there. At that time, Viracopos even appeared on the Guinness Book of Records as the farthest airport from the city it allegedly served (a dubious title that now probably rests with Gonggar Airport, which lies at about the same distance from Lhasa, Tibet).
Today, Guarulhos Airport handles all international passenger traffic to and from São Paulo, but Viracopos remains the second busiest Brazilian airport for cargo operations, both domestic and international. It also has some domestic passenger traffic, catering to the local market of the prosperous Campinas region.
[edit] Safety concerns
The airport has been troubled by slippery runways and has had several accidents where water accumulation has been a significant factor (most notably, the one involving TAM Brazilian Airlines Flight 3054 in July 2007). Although the main runway was repaved in June 2007, its new rainwater drainage grooves were only finished in September 2007. The approach path over densely populated areas causes noise and raises further safety concerns.
The largest aircraft now operating at Congonhas are the Boeing 737-800 (Gol and Varig) and the Airbus A320 (TAM). However, in the past the airport used to have operations with Boeing 767 and Airbus A300 wide-body aircraft, by the now-defunct airlines Transbrasil, VASP and Cruzeiro.
In consequence of the TAM 3054 accident, and with the subsequent public outcry for more safety, the airport has had its operations significantly altered, through the reduction of landing slots and restrictions on flight distance and connections. This has reduced the maximum allowable gross weight of landing aircraft, increasing safety margins. To compensate for the traffic, there are talks of a third commercial airport to be built in a yet-undecided location in São Paulo, but experts heard by the Brazilian press say that the actual construction of such an airport is unlikely, and that an enlargement of Guarulhos Airport, coupled with improvement in the access to that farther airport, is much more likely and feasible.[2]
[edit] General information
- Number of Passengers: 15,244,401 (2007)[1]
- Main Terminal: 51,535 m2 (554,718 sq.ft.) [3]
- Main destinations: Rio de Janeiro (flights on average every 15 min), Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Curitiba (flights on average every 25-30 min to each destination).
[edit] Airlines and destinations
- Gol Transportes Aéreos (Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Campo Grande, Caxias do Sul, Cuiabá, Florianópolis, Goiânia, Joinville, Londrina, Maringá, Navegantes, Porto Alegre, Presidente Prudente, Ribeirão Preto, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, Uberlândia, Vitória)
- OceanAir (Araçatuba, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Cascavel, Chapecó, Fortaleza, Ipatinga, Passo Fundo, Porto Seguro, Salvador e etc...)
- Pantanal Linhas Aéreas (Araçatuba, Bauru, Marília, Juiz de Fora, Mucuri, Presidente Prudente, )
- TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) (Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Campo Grande, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Goiânia, Foz do Iguaçu, Joinville, Londrina, Maringá, Navegantes, Porto Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, São José do Rio Preto, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, Uberlândia, Vitória)
- TRIP Linhas Aéreas (Campinas, Londrina, Maringá, Sinop)
- Varig (Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, Salvador)
[edit] Incidents and Accidents
- On October 31, 1996, TAM Transportes Aéreos Regionais Flight 402 crashed shortly after take-off from Congonhas, striking an apartment building and several houses. All 90 passengers and 6 crew members on board died. Three people were killed on ground.
- On August 8, 2006, the forward airstair of a TAM Airlines Fokker 100 separated from the aircraft just after the plane took off from Congonhas, hitting the roof of a supermarket. No one was injured in the accident, and the aircraft landed safely a few minutes later.[4]
- On July 17, 2007, TAM Airlines Flight 3054, on a flight from Porto Alegre with 181 passengers and six crew, overran the runway while attempting to land, crossed a major thoroughfare and impacted a TAM Express warehouse, killing 12 workers. All 187 people on board died and together with the 12 people that died on the ground the accident totaled 199 deaths.[5]
[edit] Technical Information
VOR/DME: CONGONHAS 116.9 (at field) NDB: SAO PAULO 250 (1.2 NM from field).
RUNWAYS:
17L/35R 1435 x 45 m (4708 x 148 ft.) PCN 38 F/B/X/U (over-run area of 67 m/220 ft. on 35R) 17R/35L 1940 x 45 m (6365 x 148 ft.) PCN 50 F/B/X/T
Displaced threshold of 126 m RWY 17R, and 61 m RWY 35L. Take-off at each end is 1940 m (6365 ft.), but landing length is 1814 m (5951 ft.) on 17R and 1879 m (6165 ft.) on 35L. Preferred approach and departure runway is 17R.
LIGHTING:
17L/35R LIRL, REIL, PAPI 17R HIRL, REIL, PAPI, A1, SF 35L HIRL, REIL, PAPI
LIRL = Low Intensity Runway Lighting REIL = Runway End Identifier Lights PAPI = Precision Approach Path Indicators A1 = Approach Lighting System SF = Sequenced Flashing Lights (at end of runway)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Airport Statistics for 2007 http://www.infraero.gov.br/upload/arquivos/movi/mov.operac.1207.pdf
- ^ Read in full President Lula's statement to the nation Folha de São Paulo, Retrieved July 21, 2007.
- ^ Aeroporto Internacional de Congonhas/São Paulo: Complexo Aeroportuário (Portuguese). Infraero. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ Picture: Airstair door falls off TAM Fokker 100 in Brazil. FlightGlobal.com (2006-08-09). Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ Wade, Terry (2007-07-18). Scores of bodies pulled from Brazil plane wreck. Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Airport information for SBSP at World Aero Data
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