Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport

Rio de Janeiro/Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (IATA: GIG, ICAO: SBGL) better known as Galeão International Airport is Rio de Janeiro's major international airport. The second name of the airport is in honor of Brazilian musician Antônio Carlos Jobim.

Built in 1952 on Governador Island, approximately twenty kilometres from the city center, by 1970 the airport was Brazil's major air-hub. In that year, its administration was assumed by Infraero, an agency recently created by the Brazilian government. In 1977, at which time it was receiving all of Brazil's major international flights, the airport underwent a major renovation.

In 1985 the airport lost the title of the country's major international airport to São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, due to a drop in passengers to/from abroad. Infraero built a second terminal on the site at a cost of US$600 million, which is capable of handling 7.5 million passengers annually, more than doubling the airport's capacity. Until 2004, passenger numbers had remained stable at about 4.5 million per year, but this number has subsequently increased. In 2007, Galeão International Airport handled 10,352,211 passengers and 119,890 aircraft movements, placing it 4th busiest airport in the country in both categories[1].

Galeão was Infraero's second-most idle and money-losing airport (after Confins International Airport), and was considered by many to be a waste of resources. At the time the new terminal was opened, Guarulhos was overloaded, operating at 102% of capacity, against 24% for Galeão. Infraero was criticized for not investing resources appropriately. However, since late 2004, most flights from the overloaded downtown Rio airport Santos Dumont Regional Airport were reassigned to Galeão.

The airport is also a second international hub for Varig.

BY.RM