Rio de Janeiro/Galeão – Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport Aeroporto Internacional do Rio de Janeiro/Galeão – Antonio Carlos Jobim
IATA: GIG – ICAO: SBGL
Summary
Airport type		Public/Military
Operator		Infraero
Serves		Rio de Janeiro
Elevation AMSL		9 m / 28 ft
Coordinates		22°48′32″S 43°14′37″W / 22.80889°S 43.24361°W / -22.80889; -43.24361
Website		Infraero GIG
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
10/28	4,000	13,123	Concrete
15/33	3,180	10,433	Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Passengers			11,828,656
Aircraft Operations			119,287
Metric tonnes of cargo			80,270
Statistics: Infraero Sources: Airport Website

Rio de Janeiro/Galeão – Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (IATA: GIG, ICAO: SBGL) better known by its original name Galeão International Airport is the main airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after Praia do Galeão (English: Galleon Beach), located in front of the original passenger terminal (presently the passenger terminal of the Brazilian Air Force) and where in 1663 the galleon Padre Eterno was built; and since January 5, 1999 also after the Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim.

In 2009, the airport was ranked 4 in terms of transported passengers, aircraft operations, and cargo handled in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country. It is operated by Infraero.

Some of its facilities are shared with the Galeão Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.

History

The history of the airport begins on May 10, 1923 when a School of Naval Aviation was established near the Galeão beach on Governador Island. On May 22, 1941 with the creation of the Brazilian Air Force Ministry, the school became the Galeão Air Force Base and a terminal and hangars were built at the location and the runway extended. Those buildings still exist and the Galeão Air Force Base is still active. When Brazil declared war against the Axis on August 22, 1942, the aerodrome began to be intensively used by the Allies for military operations related to the World War II.

With the end of the war, the increase of tonnage of aircraft flying on international routes and number of passengers and with Santos Dumont Airport unable to handle all the traffic, international flights gradually moved to the site of the Air Force Base. The services were however precarious and a decision was made to build a brand new passenger terminal, opposite the Air Force Base, across the runway.

On February 1, 1952, the new passenger terminal was opened and remained in passenger use with enlargements until 1977. This terminal and its adjoining apron still exist. Presently it is the passenger terminal for flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force known as the Terminal do CAN (Correio Aéreo Nacional). The cargo terminal (TECA) is also located in the area and all-cargo aircraft usually park at its adjoining apron. The whole complex is now informally known as the "old Galeão."

By 1970 the airport was Brazil's major international and domestic air-hub. In that year, its administration was taken-over by Infraero, an agency then recently created by the Brazilian government.

As proof of prestige, the Concorde made its scheduled maiden-flight with Air France on January 21, 1976, flying from Paris - Charles de Gaulle to Galeão via Dakar. Those twice-weekly flights were discontinued in 1982. Furthermore, the 007 - James Bond production Moonraker (1979) shows the Concorde touching down at Galeão.

On January 20, 1977, at which time the airport was receiving all of Brazil's major international flights, a new terminal was opened and all scheduled passenger flights were transferred to the new building. This building today is known as Passenger Terminal 1. One of the features dating from this time is the sultry PA system announcements made by Iris Lettieri, which was featured on National Public Radio.

In 1985 the airport lost the title of the country's major international airport to São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport. At that time, a new runway that allowed intercontinental flights with no weight restrictions was opened in São Paulo and Brazilian and foreign airlines increasingly used São Paulo as a national and international hub. As a consequence, the number of transiting passengers dropped. Constant efforts were made by the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro to reverse the trend and as a result, after stagnating for years embittered by the loss of domestic flights to Santos Dumont and international flights to São Paulo-Guarulhos Airports, since late 2004 Galeão has been gradually recovering its importance in the national and international spheres with addition of flights and airlines.

During the year 1991, Passenger Terminal 1 underwent its first major renovation in preparation for the United Nations Earth Summit held in 1992. Its annual capacity was increased to 7,5 million passengers/year. On July 20, 1999, Passenger Terminal 2 was opened. Presently, the airport has those two passenger terminals, in an elliptical format, with twelve jetways each, each capable of handling 7.5 million passengers annually.

Terminals, airlines and destinations

Passenger

a.^ Airline operating regular charter flights.

Cargo airlines

AA Boeing 777 at the airport

Accidents and incidents

Major accidents involving fatalities

• 29 April 1952: Pan Am flight 202, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-26 registration N1039V en route from Galeão to New York via Port of Spain, crashed in the jungle in the south of the State of Pará. Probable causes are the separation of no. 2 engine and propeller from the aircraft due to highly unbalanced forces followed by uncontrollability and disintegration of the aircraft. All 50 passengers and crew died.
• 11 January 1959: Lufthansa flight 502, a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation registration D-ALAK flying from Hamburg to Galeão via Frankfurt, Paris-Orly and Dakar, crashed during approach under heavy rain at Galeão. The crew descended below minimums. From the 39 passengers and crew aboard, 3 survived. This was the first accident of Lufthansa after it was re-established.
• 20 August 1962: Panair do Brasil, a Douglas DC-8-33 registration PP-PDT, flying from Galeão to Lisbon, overran the runway into the ocean during an aborted take-off. From the 105 passengers and crew aboard, 15 died.
• 27 November 1962: Varig flight 810, a Boeing 707-441 registration PP-VJB flying from Galeão to Lima, after initiating an overshoot procedure at the suggestion of the control tower because it was too high, proceeded to start another approach when it crashed into La Cruz peak, 8 miles away from Lima Airport. Possibly there was a misinterpretation of navigation instruments. All 97 passengers and crew on board died.
• 11 July 1973: Varig flight 820, a Boeing 707-345C registration PP-VJZ flying from Galeão to Paris-Orly, made a successful emergency landing at an open field 5 km before landing, after reporting fire in a rear lavatory. However, 123 of the 134 passengers and crew on board died, overcome by smoke and carbon monoxide poisoning before the aircraft could be evacuated.
• 26 July 1979: Lufthansa flight 527, a cargo Boeing 707-330C registration D-ABUY flying from Galeão to Frankfurt via Dakar, collided with a mountain 5 minutes after take-off from Galeão. The crew of 3 died.
• 8 June 1982: Vasp flight 168, a Boeing 727-212 registration PP-SRK flying from Galeão to Fortaleza collided with a mountain while on approach to its destination. The captain descended below a minimum descent altitude. All 137 passengers and crew died.
• 3 January 1987: Varig flight 797, a Boeing 707-379C registration PP-VJK flying from Abidjan to Galeão crashed due to a failure on engine 1 shortly after take-off. While attempting to return to the airport for an emergency landing, it crashed on a field 18 km away from Abidjan’s airport. Of the 51 passengers and crew aboard, a single passenger survived.
• 1 June 2009: Air France flight 447, an Airbus 330-203 registration F-GZCP en route from Galeão to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean. All 228 passengers and crew on board were killed. Only 51 bodies have been recovered along with hundreds of pieces of debris from the crash. The official cause of the accident, the worst in the airline's history, remains unknown.

Incidents

• 3 March 1965: Vasp, the Vickers Viscount registration PP-SRQ was damaged beyond economic repair when the aircraft departed the runway during a simulated engine failure on take-off.
• 1 January 1970: Cruzeiro do Sul, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R en route from Montevideo to Galeão, with 33 occupants aboard was hijacked by 6 persons who demanded to be flown to Cuba. The flight was diverted to Lima, Panama City and arrived in Havana two days later. There were no victims.
• 1 July 1970: Cruzeiro do Sul, the Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R registration PP-PDX en route from Galeão to São Paulo with 31 occupants aboard was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded the release of political prisoners that were to be taken to Cuba. The aircraft was stormed and hijackers arrested. There were no victims and the hijack lasted less than a day.

Access

The airport is located 20 km north of Rio de Janeiro downtown.

There are taxis available. Real Auto Ônibus operates the Executive Bus Service number 2018 that runs half-hourly (between 05:30 and 22:30 hours) from Galeão Airport to the Central Bus Station, Rio de Janeiro downtown, Santos Dumont Airport, and the southern parts of the city along the shore, with final stop at Alvorada Bus Terminal in Barra da Tijuca. The same company also offers a service to Alvorada Bus Terminal with a different and more direct route. Ticket counters for this bus service can be found at the arrivals area of both terminals.

Future developments

On August 31, 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL819 million (USD431 million; EUR302 million) investiment plan to up-grade Galeão International Airport focusing 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 investiment will be distributed as follows:

• Renovation of Passenger Terminal 1. Value 314.9 million. To be completed: February 2011
• Completion and renovation of Passenger Terminal 2. Value 284.0 million. To be completed: May 2012
• Construction of further parking. Value 220.0 million. To be completed: May 2013

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
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