Tancredo Neves International Airport

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Tancredo Neves International Airport Confins International Airport
IATA: CNF – ICAO: SBCF
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Infraero
Location		Belo Horizonte
Elevation AMSL		828 m / 2.715 ft
Coordinates		19°38′02″S 43°58′08″W / -19.63389, -43.96889
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	m	ft	Surface
16/34	3,000	9,843	Asphalt

Tancredo Neves International Airport (IATA: CNF, ICAO: SBCF), popularly known as Confins International Airport, is located 38 km from downtown Belo Horizonte. The name honors the memory of former President Tancredo Neves. It is currently the largest and busiest airport in the state Minas Gerais. It is deemed to be one of the finest and best equipped in Latin America. It used to be under-utilized and was among Brazil's least used airports because Belo Horizonte also has an airport closer to downtown, Pampulha Regional Airport. Since 2005 however, all flights to and from Pampulha were transferred to Confins International Airport.

In 2007, the airport handled 4,340,129 passengers and 55,491 aircraft movements^[1], placing it 7th busiest Brazilian airport in terms of passengers.

1 History
2 Projects
3 General information
4 Airlines and destinations
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

The airport was built by Infraero in the early 1980s at a cost of $1.2 billion in Brazilian currency. It was inaugurated in 1984. It was built to lessen congestion at Pampulha Regional Airport, which was operating at 120% of its capacity of 1.3 million passengers per year.

It was expected that by 1990, passenger movement at Confins would be nearly 2 million passengers per year. However, it only surpassed the 1 million passenger mark 22 years later. Its maximum operational capacity is 5 million passengers per year.

Since its inauguration, despite plans to help lessen congestion at urban Pampulha airport, just a fraction of the capacity of Confins has been used. This is in part due to its distance from downtown and, until recently, the lack of satisfatory transportation alternatives to pricy (about $40 USD) taxi fares, leading people to continue to use the more central but very crowded Pampulha.

However, by March 2005, the government had transferred 130 flights from Pampulha to Tancredo Neves International Airport, thus increasing annual passenger flow from 350,000 to around 3.0 million in 2005. This was extremely necessary, since Pampulha had been operating at 200% of its maximum capacity, while Confins was known as Infraero's most inefficient and the least-used airport.

Today, Confins serves mostly domestic destinations. Both TAM Brazilian Airlines and Gol offer one-stop international service to and from Buenos Aires, Argentina. State authorities are actively seeking to increase international traffic. However, bi-lateral air agreements between Brazil and other countries hinder the ability of foreign airlines to offer new flights to and from Brazil.

TAP Air Portugal started offering nonstop service between Lisbon and Belo Horizonte on February 11, 2008. Service will be five times a week with Airbus A330 aircraft. This flight enables 1-connection services between CNF and 42 European destinations through Lisbon.

[edit] Projects

Many recent projects have been carried out, including improvement of the highway that links the city center to the airport (MG-10 highway) as part of a larger project called Linha Verde (Green Line), which seeks to reduce the time needed to reach the airport. The Green Line has been mostly completed. Another project, called the "industrial-airport", will tax exempt industries interested in settling their business near the airport, transforming its surroundings.

Moreover, comfortable and frequent shuttle buses now link downtown Belo Horizonte and the airport. Their fares range from R$6.75 for the conventional bus to R$15.50 (about $USD 8.00 in April, 2007) for the air-conditioned Executive Shuttle. Tickets are available at booths in the arrivals area.

Infraero has plans to increase the number of check-in positions at the airport from 33 to 43 soon and ultimately have 60 check-in positions. There is a project to extend the runway from 3000m to 3660m. At 3000m the current runway may require a weight restriction in take-offs of very long flights. Infraero has further expansion studies with the removal of the current passenger pick-up and drop-off lanes. That space would be used for an enlarged lobby. A new outer lane would be built in part of the current parking lot and parking spaces would be stacked on a three-deck garage.

[edit] General information

Landing strip length: 3000 m (9.842 ft)
Landing strip width: 45 m (147,64 ft)
Co-ordinates: 19°37′27″S, 043°58′18″W
Administration: Infraero
Annual capacity: 5.000.000
Passenger traffic in 2007: 4,340,129^[1]
Other passenger facilities information: 33 check-in desks, 9 gates, 9 jetways, 1.080 long term parking spaces, min. connection times Dom-Intl: 60 min, Dom-Dom: 20 min, post office, bank, bureau de change, restaurants, cafeterias, bars, VIP lounge, duty free shop, newsagent/tobacconist, chemist shop, gift shop, travel agent, tourist help desk, car rental, taxi service/rank, first aid, baby/parent room, disabled access/facilities
Cargo facilities: capacity 18.000 tonnes (39.682.000 lb); Warehouse 6.400 m² (68.889 ft²), Bonded Warehouse, Transit Zone, Domestic Cargo Only, Mechanical Handling, Heated Storage, Refrigerated Storage, Deep Freeze Storage, Mortuary, Animal Quarantine, Fresh Meat Inspection, Livestock Handling, Health Officials, Security for Valuables, Dangerous Goods, Radioactive Goods, Very Large/Heavy Cargo, Express/Courier Centre, Handling Equipment: Forklift, Porta-pallets
Transportation: It is regularly served by buses, taxis and shuttles. Transfer at Belo Horizonte's subway, when using buses, is possible.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Gol Transportes Aéreos is the largest airline at Confins with a total of 227 departures per week (as of 2008) with nonstop service to Brasília, Campinas, Curitiba, Ilheus, Porto Seguro, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Uberlandia, Vitória
TAM Brazilian Airlines is the second largest airline at Confins with a total of 210 departures per week (as of 2008) with nonstop service to Brasília, Campinas, Porto Seguro, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Vitória
Varig is the third largest airline at Confins with a total of 52 departures per week with nonstop service to Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo-Congonhas.
Webjet Linhas Aéreas serves Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Natal (Saturday only) and Ilheus (Sunday only).
OceanAir (Brasília, Ipatinga, Montes Claros, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo-Congonhas)
TAP Portugal (Lisbon)