| Viracopos–Campinas International Airport Aeroporto Internacional de Viracopos–Campinas |
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|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: VCP – ICAO: SBKP | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Infraero | ||
| Serves | Campinas, São Paulo | ||
| Hub for | Azul Brazilian Airlines | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 661 m / 2,170 ft | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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VCP
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 14/32 | 3,240 | 10,630 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Passengers | 5,021,939 | ||
| Aircraft Operations | 74,472 | ||
| Metric tonnes of cargo | 216,097 | ||
| Statistics: Infraero[1] Sources: Airport Website,[2] ANAC[3] |
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Viracopos–Campinas International Airport (IATA: VCP, ICAO: SBKP) is the international airport serving Campinas, Brazil. On January 6, 1987, the airport name was officially normalized to its present form.[4]
In 2010 the airport was ranked 2nd in terms of cargo handled in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country. It is operated by Infraero.
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The IATA airport code of Viracopos is VCP and the specific city code of Campinas is CPQ. Sometimes both codes are used as one although there is a distinction between them in airline reservation systems: VCP, together with CGH (Congonhas) and GRU (Guarulhos), is part of the multiple airport system set around the city of São Paulo (code SAO). An airline that files services with the code VCP has flights displayed when passengers or travel agents request service from São Paulo, whereas flights filed with the code CPQ are displayed as service from Campinas, not São Paulo. A similar example is New York City (NYC), in which the airport codes LGA (LaGuardia Airport), JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport), and EWR (Newark Liberty International Airport) are used for the same city, although the latter is located in a different city and state.
Viracopos's origin can be traced to a simple airfield near Campinas built during the 1932 Constitutionalist Revolution in São Paulo. During the 1950s it started being used by cargo companies. In 1960 it was improved with a 3,240 m runway, long enough to accommodate the first generation of intercontinental jet planes such as the Boeing 707, de Havilland Comet, Vickers VC10, Convair 990, and Douglas DC-8, and received its first international flight.[5] Furthermore, Viracopos served (and still serves) as an alternate airport for Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport and São Paulo airports particularly because it rarely closes due to bad weather conditions (an average of only 5 days per year). Soon airlines such as Varig, VASP and Real established services to Viracopos.[6]
In the 1970s Viracopos became the international airport for São Paulo, because the runway of São Paulo-Congonhas Airport was too short to accommodate intercontinental jet planes. In practice, however, the distance of nearly 100 km from Viracopos to São Paulo made it very inconvenient for passengers and airlines. As a result, direct international passenger service was limited because most international passengers simply opted to fly instead to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport and then connect to São Paulo-Congonhas, which is located very close to downtown. At that time, Viracopos even appeared on the Guinness Book of Records as the furthest airport from the city it allegedly served.
The position of international airport of São Paulo was lost in 1985 with the opening of Guarulhos International Airport and Viracopos entered into a decade of stagnation, with all international and most domestic flights transferred to Guarulhos and Congonhas.[5]
However, recognizing the strategic importance of Viracopos for the economy, Infraero, the airport administrator in 1995 started to implement a master plan of renovations aiming at the building of a new airport, focusing its efforts on the segment of cargo transportation. The first phase was completed in the first half of 2004, when the airport received new passenger departure and arrival lounges, public areas, commercial concessions and a new cargo terminal. The second phase of the passenger terminal expansion project was completed in 2005 and a new control tower was built, storage and processing facilities for the cargo terminal expanded, and the passenger terminal was entirely revamped. A third phase of expansion, which will build a second runway, is projected, depending on environmental impact reports funds for purchasing private land around the airport. A total area of 12.36 km2, with 3,172 urban and 88 lots need to be expropriated by the government for this purpose.
Being the second busiest cargo airport in Brazil, Viracopos has 60,000 square meters (646,000 square feet) of cargo terminals, 1,700 square meters (18,300 square feet) for animal cargo, and 1,480 cubic meters (52,200 square feet) of refrigerated space. As a major import/export hub, Viracopos enjoys 'express lanes' for courier traffic which are exceptionally quick and unbureaucratic by Brazilian standards.
The region of Campinas, like most of the interior of the state of São Paulo, is one of the most prosperous in Brazil, with an impressive economic output. Its local domestic passenger traffic, combined with the intense domestic and international cargo traffic that also serves São Paulo, is large enough to make Viracopos a relatively busy airport. In fact, between 2008 and 2010 passenger traffic grew 400 percent, from 1.02 million in 2008 to 5.5 million in 2010. The airport can handle 7 million passengers/year.[6] The number of flights offered has increased dramatically since Azul Brazilian Airlines made Viracopos its main hub. However, until 2010 there were no other scheduled international passenger flights. That year TAP Portugal started services to Lisbon, PLUNA to Montevideo, and the charter operator Whitejets to destinations in the Caribbean.
On April 26, 2011, it was confirmed that in order to speed-up much needed renovation and up-grade works, private companies will be granted a concession to explore some Infraero airports, including Viracopos.[7] The plan was confirmed on May 31, 2011, and it was added that Infraero would retain 49% of the shares of each privatized airport and that negotiations are expected to be concluded on the first half of 2012.[8]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Azul Brazilian Airlines | Aracaju, Araçatuba, Bauru/Arealva [begins February 6][9], Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Caldas Novas, Campo Grande, Caxias do Sul, Cuiabá, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Foz do Iguaçu, Goiânia, Ilhéus, João Pessoa, Joinville, Juazeiro do Norte, Juiz de Fora-Zona da Mata, Londrina [begins February 1][10], Maceió, Manaus, Marília, Maringá, Navegantes, Natal, Palmas, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Presidente Prudente, Recife, Ribeirão Preto, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, Salvador da Bahia, São José do Rio Preto, Teresina, Uberaba, Vitória Seasonal: Cabo Frio |
| Gol Airlines | Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Fortaleza, Maringá, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Salvador da Bahia, Vitória |
| PLUNA | Montevideo |
| TAM Airlines | Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Salvador da Bahia, São Luís |
| TAP Portugal | Lisbon |
| TRIP Linhas Aéreas | Belo Horizonte-Confins, Belo Horizonte-Pampulha, Campo Grande, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Dourados, Londrina, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, São Paulo-Guarulhos |
| Whitejetsa | Seasonal: Punta Cana |
a.^ Airline operating charter flights.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| ABSA Cargo Airline | Caracas, Ciudad del Este, Lima, Medellín, Manaus, Miami, Porto Alegre, Salvador da Bahia, Santiago de Chile, Vitória |
| Atlas Air | Miami |
| Cargolux | Bogotá, Curitiba-Afonso Pena, Luxembourg, Milan-Malpensa, Quito |
| Centurion Air Cargo | Miami |
| Emirates SkyCargo | Dakar, Dubai |
| FedEx | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Memphis, Santiago de Chile |
| Florida West International Airways | Miami, Salvador da Bahia |
| LAN Cargo | Amsterdam, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Caracas, Frankfurt, Iquique, Manaus, Miami, Porto Alegre, Salvador da Bahia, Santiago de Chile, Vitória |
| LANCO | Bogotá, Miami |
| Lufthansa Cargo | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Dakar, Frankfurt, Quito |
| Martinair | Amsterdam |
| MasAir | Los Angeles, Mérida, Mexico City |
| UPS Airlines | Miami |
| VarigLog | Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Caracas, Miami, Salvador da Bahia, Santiago de Chile |
The airport is located 99 km (62 mi) northwest of the capital city of São Paulo and 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Campinas, adjacent to the Bandeirantes-Anhanguera highway complex, which connects the capital city to the interior of São Paulo state.
On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL2,814 million (USD1,482.6 million; EUR1,038.8 million) investiment plan to up-grade Viracopos International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, São Paulo (99 km away) being one of the venue cities. The investment also intends to provide infra-structure to the airport, alleviating the air-traffic presently concentrated at São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport. The investiment will be distributed as follows:[16]
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