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. For passengers bound for São Paulo, Brazil's main domestic hub, then served only by the smaller Congonhas-São Paulo International Airport, this meant taking at least one connecting flight — two connecting flights if their destination was anywhere else in the country.
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. Nevertheless, 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 been stable at about 4.5 million per year, but this number has subsequently increased. In 2006, Galeão International Airport handled nearly 9 million passengers.
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, and it currently uses 57% of its capacity. The 10 million passengers mark is expected to be achieved in 2008.
The airport is also a second international hub for Varig.
[edit] General information
* two terminals (in an elliptical format, with twelve jetways each) capable of handling 7.5 million passengers annually
* 2005 — 8.6 million passengers
* 2006 — 8.75 million passengers
[edit] Airlines and destinations
* Aerolineas Argentinas (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza)
* Air Europa (Madrid)
* Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)
* Alitalia (Rome-Fiumicino) [begins march 2008]
* American Airlines (Miami, New York-JFK)
* Avianca (Bogotá)
o Avianca operated by OceanAir (Curitiba, Brasília, Fortaleza, Juazeiro do Norte, Petrolina, Salvador, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Recife)
* BRA Transportes Aéreos
* British Airways (London-Heathrow)
* Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental)
* Copa Airlines (Panama City)
* Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
* Gol (Aracaju, Asunción, Belém, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Belo Horizonte-Pampulha, Belém, Boa Vista, Brasília, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Campina Grande, Campo Grande, Caxias do Sul, Chapecó, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Córdoba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Foz do Iguaçu, Goiânia, Ilhéus, Imperatriz, Joinville, João Pessoa, Juazeiro do Norte, Lima, Londrina, Macapá, Maceió, Manaus, Marabá, Maringá, Montevideo, Natal, Navegantes, Palmas, Panama City, Petrolina, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Porto Velho, Recife, Riberião Preto, Rio Branco, Rosario, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Salvador, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santarém, Santiago, São José do Rio Preto, São Luís, Teresina, Uberlândia, Vitória)
* Iberia (Madrid)
* LAN Airlines (Santiago de Chile)
o LANExpress (Santiago de Chile)
* Livingston (Milan-Malpensa, Porto Seguro)
* Mexicana (Mexico City) (Starts March 19,2008)
* PLUNA (Madrid, Montevideo)
* TAM Brazilian Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) (Belém, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Brasília, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Campinas, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Foz do Iguaçu, Londrina, Campo Grande, Fortaleza, João Pessoa, Maceió, Manaus, Milan-Malpensa, Natal, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Recife, Salvador, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Vitoria)
* TAM Mercosur (Asunción, Buenos Aires)
* TAAG Angola Airlines (Luanda)
* TAP Portugal (Lisbon, Porto)
* United Airlines (Washington-Dulles)
* Varig (Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Frankfurt, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Vitória, Recife)
* WebJet Linhas Aéreas (Brasília, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Salvador, Belo Horizonte-Confins, Belo Horizonte-Pampulha)
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Andreas., on Jan 22 2008, 02:56 PM, said:
