Santos Dumont Airport

Rio de Janeiro-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). It is operated by Infraero.

Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport

Aeroporto do Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
OperatorInfraero
ServesRio de Janeiro
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL3 m / 11 ft
Coordinates22°54′36″S 043°09′45″W
Websitewww4.infraero.gov.br/aeroportos/aeroporto-do-rio-de-janeiro-santos-dumont/
Map
SDU
Location within greater Rio de Janeiro
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
02R/20L 1,323 4,341 Asphalt
02L/20R 1,260 4,200 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers9,091,258 1.2%
Aircraft operations95,203 4.9%
Metric tonnes of cargo6,982 4.5%
Statistics: Infraero[1]
Sources: Airport Website,[2] ANAC[3]

Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operating with a maximum of 19 operations/hour, being one of the five airports with such restrictions in Brazil.[4]

History

The Seaplane terminal on the day of its dedication.
Panair Terminal

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 (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 29 October 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 30 November it received its first commercial flight, a VASP Junkers Ju 52 aircraft flying from São Paulo–Congonhas. The airport complex was 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, (now 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]

The original terminal building, which now handles only arrivals.

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 architecture inspired by the Pan American Seaplane Base and Terminal Building in Miami. It included a passenger terminal, offices and hangars. It remained the headquarters of Panair do Brasil until the airline was forced to cease its operations in 1965. It is now the headquarters of 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 Electra propjets. 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 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. The airport handles only part of Rio's short-to-medium haul domestic air traffic, and 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.

The new terminal building opened in 2007 and handles all departures.

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 3 September 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]

On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL152.2 million (US$80.2 million; EUR64.5 million) investment plan[10] to upgrade Santos Dumont Airport, particularly the passenger arrivals terminal. The plan focused on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The renovation was completed in 2013.

Whilst this airport is quite conveniently located very close to the city centre, the location is problematic because aircraft have Sugarloaf Mountain on the direct approach path, meaning that whilst installing an ILS system would be feasible because of the relatively clear approach path onto runways 20L/20R, it is not feasible as if an ILS was installed on runways 02L/02R, the glide path would head through Sugar Loaf. This means that aircraft have to negotiate the mountainous terrain beyond the two runways by either:
a. flying over the bay entrance, then quickly swerving behind Sugar Loaf on to the runway glide path, or
b. fly over central Rio and negotiate the mountainous terrain not just around Sugar Loaf, but also around the central west of Rio.

Airlines and destinations

Aerial view of Santos Dumont location. The Rio-Niterói Bridge in the background, and the Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar) in the foreground.
AirlinesDestinations
Azul Brazilian Airlines Belo Horizonte–Confins, Brasília, Cabo Frio, Campinas, Curitiba, Cuiabá, Florianópolis, Goiânia, Macaé, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador da Bahia, São Paulo–Congonhas, Vitória
Azul Brazilian Airlines
operated by Azul Conecta
Angra dos Reis, Armação dos Búzios, Campos dos Goytacazes, Paraty
Gol Transportes Aéreos Brasília, Belo Horizonte–Confins, Campinas, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Goiânia, Navegantes, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Salvador da Bahia, São Paulo–Congonhas, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Vitória
LATAM Brasil Brasília, Salvador da Bahia, São Paulo–Congonhas, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Vitória
Voepass Ribeirão Preto

Accidents and incidents

Major accidents involving fatalities

Incidents

Access

Tarmac and control tower at Santos Dumont Airport

The airport is located adjacent to downtown Rio de Janeiro.

Real Auto Ônibus operates executive bus 2018, which runs half-hourly 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 Terminal Alvorada in Barra da Tijuca. Bus 2145 is an express link between Santos Dumont and Galeão Airports and bus 2101 stops at the Central Bus Station. They run every 20 minutes. All services are provided between 05:30 and 22:30 hours.[36] These bus services have their stops in front of the arrivals terminal and tickets can be bought in the bus while boarding.

Rio de Janeiro Light Rail has a station at the airport connecting the terminal with downtown area, the subway system, the Olympic Boulevard and the Central Bus Station.

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. "Estatísticas". Infraero (in Portuguese). 20 February 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. "Aeroporto Santos Dumont". Infraero (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. "Aeródromos". ANAC (in Portuguese). 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  4. "Nota técnica" (PDF) (in Portuguese). ANAC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  5. Empresa das Artes (ed.) (1996). Aeroporto Santos Dumont 1936–1996 (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Empresa das Artes. ISBN 85-85628-27-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  6. Pereira, Aldo (1987). Breve história da aviação comercial brasileira (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Europa Empresa Gráfica e Editora.
  7. "Ponte Aérea completa meio século". Revista da Associação dos tripulantes da TAM. 2009. pp. 2–3.
  8. "Restrições obrigam aeroporto Santos Dumont a alterar rota" (in Portuguese). INEA. 4 August 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  9. "Licença ambiental vai restringir operações no Aeroporto Santos Dumont" (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. 4 August 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  10. Rittner, Daniel; Braga, Paulo Victor (31 August 2009). "Infraero vai gastar R$5 bi em reforma de aeroportos". Valor Econômico (in Portuguese). pp. A4. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  11. Pereira, Aldo (1987). Breve história da aviação comercial brasileira (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Europa Empresa Gráfica e Editora. p. 130.
  12. Pereira, Aldo (1987). Breve história da aviação comercial brasileira (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Europa Empresa Gráfica e Editora. p. 131.
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  21. "Accident description PP-SQE". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  22. Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Ponte aérea das doze horas". O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928–1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 171–173. ISBN 978-85-7430-760-2.
  23. "Accident description 131582". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
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