| Santos Dumont Airport Aeroporto Santos Dumont |
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| IATA: SDU – ICAO: SBRJ | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public/Military | ||
| Operator | Infraero | ||
| Serves | Rio de Janeiro | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 3 m / 11 ft | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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SDU
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 02R/20L | 1,323 | 4,341 | Asphalt |
| 02L/20R | 1,260 | 4,134 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Passengers | 7,805,387 | ||
| Aircraft operations | 126,515 | ||
| Metric tonnes of cargo | 3,400 | ||
| Statistics: Infraero[1] Sources: Airport Website,[2] ANAC[3] |
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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).
In 2010 the airport was ranked 5th in terms of passengers and 4th in terms of number of operations in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country. It is operated by Infraero.
Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operating with a maximum of 23 operations/hour, being one of the three airports with such restrictions in Brazil.[4]
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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 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 (English: Caju water stretch). It was as a development of the terminal at Calabouço Point, that Calabouço Airport was created.[5]
A new public terminal building for seaplanes was inaugurated on October 29, 1938. It was 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. Due 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).
In 1934 in order to handle a growing amount 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 November 30 it received its first commercial flight, a VASP Junkers Ju 52 aircraft flying from São Paulo-Congonhas. The airport complex was officially inaugurated on 16 October 1936 and 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 was completed. This building continues to be used to the present day. In the lobby of this terminal, (presently 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.[6]
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 an architecture was inspired by the Pan American Seaplane Base and Terminal Building in Miami. It included not only a passenger terminal but also offices and hangars. It remained the headquarters of Panair do Brasil until the airline was forced to cease its operations in 1965. Presently, it headquarters the Third Regional Air Command of the Brazilian Air Force.
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 was an instant success. Transbrasil joined the partnership in 1968. Starting in 1975 the service was operated exclusively by Varig's Lockheed L-188 Electras. In 1999 this service came to an end because airlines decided to operate their own independent services.[7]
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 the gradual shift of international operations to Rio de Janeiro-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. Presently the airport handles only part of Rio's short to medium haul domestic air traffic as well as part of its general aviation and military operations. The airport 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 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 a meeting between INEA and Infraero held on September 3, 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 amount of flights per hour was reduced from 23 to 19.[8][9]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Avianca Brazil | Aracaju, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Florianópolis, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos |
| Azul Brazilian Airlines | Belém-Val de Cães, Campinas-Viracopos, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Fortaleza, Joinville, Manaus, Navegantes, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador da Bahia |
| Gol Airlines | Belo Horizonte-Confins, Boa Vista, Brasília, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Foz do Iguaçu, Manaus, Salvador da Bahia, São Paulo-Congonhas, Vitória |
| TAM Airlines | Aracaju, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Recife, São Paulo-Congonhas, Vitória |
| TEAM Linhas Aéreas | Campos dos Goytacazes, Macaé |
| TRIP Linhas Aéreas | Belo Horizonte-Confins, Belo Horizonte-Pampulha, Campos dos Goytacazes, Cuiabá, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Fernando de Noronha, Goiânia, Ilhéus, Juiz de Fora-Serrinha, Londrina, Macaé, Maceió, Porto Seguro, Recife, São João d'el Rei, São José dos Campos, Varginha, Vitória |
| Webjet | Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Porto Alegre, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos |
The airport is located adjacent to downtown Rio de Janeiro.
There are taxis available.
Real Auto Ônibus operates executive bus 2018, that runs half-hourly (between 05:30 and 22:30 hours), from the airport to the Central Bus Station and Galeão International Airport in one direction, and in the opposite direction to the southern parts of the city along the shore, with its final stop at Alvorada Bus Terminal in Barra da Tijuca. Bus 2145 is an express link between the Santos Dumont and Galeão Airports via the Central Bus Station and downtown.[38] Ticket counters for these bus services are located at the arrivals terminal.
On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million (USD80.2 million; EUR64.5 million) investment plan [39] to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal. The plan focuses on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which Rio de Janeiro will host. The renovation is expected to be completed in November 2011.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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