Brasília International Airport
Encyclopedia
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Since April 22, 1999 the airport is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira , known also by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician of gypsy Czech origin who was President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. He was born in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, and died in 1976...
(1902–1976), the 21st President of Brazil.
In 2010, the airport was ranked 3rd in terms of transported passengers and aircraft operations, and 8th in terms of cargo handled in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country. It is operated by Infraero
Infraero
Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1972 and responsible for operating the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2009, Infraero's airports carried 128,135,616 passengers and 1,114,754 tons of cargo and operated...
.
Some of its facilities are shared with the Brasília Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force
Brazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
.
History
Brasília was only a project when in 1956 President Juscelino Kubitschek landed for the first time in the Central Plateau. However, Vera Cruz Airport, built in 1955 by the then Deputy-Governor of Goiás, Bernardo Sayão, at the request of the chairman of the location of the New Federal Capital, Marechal José Pessoa, already existed. On October 2, 1955, the airport received the first crew of workers that would build the new capital. This facility was located where today is the Integrated Bus and Train Terminal of Brasília. It had a dirt runway of 2,700 meters and a passenger terminal in a makeshift shack cob wall covered with buriti-leavesMoriche Palm
The Moriche Palm, Mauritia flexuosa, also known as the Ité Palm, Ita, Buriti, or aguaje , is a palm tree. It grows in and near swamps and other wet areas in tropical South America....
.
This facility, however, was only temporary. The relocation to a definitive site had already been identified as a priority and construction works started on November 6, 1956. The works lasted for only over six months and required the clearing of an area of 1,334 million square meters, 178,500 square meters of earthwork, base-stabilized 40,900 m², covering 73,500 m², topographical services, positioning and leveling. The runway was designed to have a length of 3,300m but initially it had only 2,400m, and was 45m wide. The passenger terminal was built on wood. On April 2, 1957, the presidential aircraft landed for the first time at the site and the official inauguration took place on May 3, 1957. That year, on the same location the Brasília Air Force Base was also commissioned.
In 1965 Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture...
made a project to Brasília Airport to replace the wooden terminal. However, due to the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, the military-government chose to build the project of Tércio Fontana Pacheco, an architect of the Brazilian Air Force Ministry. The airport is thus one of the few important buildings in Brasília that is not related to Niemeyer. This building was opened in 1971 and since 1990 it is under renovation following an architectural concept of the architect Sergio Roberto Parada.
In 1990 Brasília International Airport underwent its first major renovation and began to gain its present form with a central body and two satellites. The first phase included the construction of an access-viaduct to the passenger terminal and metal cover inaugurated in 1992 and the first circular satellite, inaugurated in 1994. In the second phase, the main body of the passenger terminal was renovated to include a shopping-mall and the satellite received nine jetways. In 2005, a second runway was opened. Presently, the second satellite is under construction.
Because in its design, the present terminal is capable of handling 9 million passengers per year and actually handling 14 million with numbers constantly increasing, the former terminal for general aviation, originally built in 1988, was renovated and transformed into Passenger Terminal 2. It was opened for traffic on August 2, 2010.
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, among them Brasília. 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 negotioations are expected to be concluded on the first half of 2012.
The Brazilian Integrated Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Center section 1 (Cindacta I
CINDACTA
The air traffic control centers of Brazil are known by the acronym CINDACTA, or "Centro Integrado de Defesa Aérea e Controle de Tráfego Aéreo...
) is located in the vicinity of the airport.
Terminals, airlines and destinations
Accidents with fatalities
- 22 December 1962: a VarigVarigVARIG was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990 it was Brazil's leading and almost only international airline...
Convair CV-240-2 registration PP-VCQ flying from Belo Horizonte-Pampulha to Brasília descended below the prescribed altitude while on final approach to Brasília, struck trees, skidded and fell to one side. One crew member died. - 25 May 1982: a VASPVASPViação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-2A1Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PP-SMY on landing procedures at Brasília during rain, made a hard landing with nose gear first. The gear collapsed and the aircraft skidded off the runway breaking in two. Two passengers out of 118 occupants died. - 29 September 2006: Gol AirlinesGol Transportes AéreosGol Transportes Aéreos is a Brazilian airline based in Comandante Lineu Gomes Square, São Paulo City, Brazil....
flight 1907Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907 was a Boeing 737-8EH, registration PR-GTD, on a scheduled passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Rio de Janeiro. On 29 September 2006, just before 17:00 BRT, it collided in midair with an Embraer Legacy business jet over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso...
, a Boeing 737-8EHBoeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PR-GTD en route from ManausEduardo Gomes International AirportBrigadeiro Eduardo Gomes-Manaus International Airport , is the main airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshall Eduardo Gomes ....
to Brasília collided with a business jet Embraer LegacyEmbraer Legacy|-See also:-External links:* * * *...
on its first leg, fell, disintegrated in midair, and crashed into the Amazon forestAmazon RainforestThe Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
in the north of the State of Mato GrossoMato GrossoMato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
, killing all of the 154 passengers and crew on board of the Gol aircraft.
Incidents
- 25 April 1970: a VASPVASPViação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-2A1Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
en route from Brasília to Manaus-Ponta PeladaPonta Pelada AirportPonta Pelada Airport was until 1976 the main airport of Manaus, Brazil. Between 1970 and 1976 public facilities were shared with the military facilities of Manaus Air Force Base. In 1976, with the opening of Eduardo Gomes International Airport, all public operations were transferred to the new...
was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The hijack lasted a day. - 14 May 1970: a VASPVASPViação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-2A1Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
en route from Brasília to Manaus-Ponta PeladaPonta Pelada AirportPonta Pelada Airport was until 1976 the main airport of Manaus, Brazil. Between 1970 and 1976 public facilities were shared with the military facilities of Manaus Air Force Base. In 1976, with the opening of Eduardo Gomes International Airport, all public operations were transferred to the new...
was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The hijack lasted a day. - 22 February 1975: a VASPVASPViação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-2A1Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PP-SMU en route from GoiâniaSanta Genoveva AirportSanta Genoveva/Goiânia Airport is the airport serving Goiânia, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-History:The airport was inaugurated in 1955 although operations started a few years earlier...
to Brasília was hijacked by a person who demanded ramson. The hijacker was taken down.
Future developments
On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL514.8 million (USD306.06 million; EUR224.76 million) investment plan to up-grade Pres. Juscelino Kubitscheck International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014....
which will be held in Brazil, Brasília being one of the venue cities:
- Enlargement of apron and taxiways. Value 34.5. Completion: April 2011
- Renovation of the existing passenger terminal. Value 22.5. Completion: November 2011
- Enlargement of the passenger terminal. Value 439.0. Completion: April 2013
- Parking. Value 18.8. Completion: April 2014
See also
- List of the busiest airports in Brazil
- Brasília Air Force Base