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São Paulo/Congonhas Airport Aeroporto de São Paulo/Congonhas
IATA: CGH – ICAO: SBSP
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Infraero
Serves		São Paulo
Elevation AMSL		802 m / 2,631 ft
Coordinates		23°37′40″S 46°39′15″W / 23.62778°S 46.65417°W / -23.62778; -46.65417
Website		Infraero CGH
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
17R/35L	1,940	6,365	Asphalt
17L/35R	1,435	4,708	Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Passengers			13,672,301
Aircraft Operations			186,694
Metric tonnes of cargo			32,519
Sources: Airport Website [1], Infraero [2]

Congonhas/São Paulo Airport or Congonhas Airport (IATA: CGH, ICAO: SBSP) is one of São Paulo's three commercial airports, situated 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the city center at Washington Luís Avenue, in Campo Belo district. It is owned by the City of São Paulo and managed by Infraero. In 2008, it was the 2nd busiest airport in Brazil both in terms of passenger traffic and aircraft movements, handling 186,694 aircraft movements and 13,672,301 passengers.^[3]

Congonhas currently operates with slot restrictions of a maximum of 30 operations/hour,^[4] being one of the two airports with such restrictions in Brazil.

History

The airport's name came from a plant that used to be common in the area where the airport was built. The airport was initially planned in 1919, but it did not open until September 12, 1936. At that time, it was the private airport of VASP, built as an alternative to Campo de Marte, which, already at that time, had operational difficulties. By 1957, the airport was the third busiest in the world for cargo and freight. The passenger terminal's central hall is considered one of the most outstanding examples of modern architecture in São Paulo. However, modernizing and enlargement works conducted at the terminal from 2003 onwards, while trying to preserve the look of the older, historic section, still made the latter lose much of its former character.

Congonhas Airport is the main hub of Brazil's largest airlines: TAM and Gol.

Importance to the city

The classic but highly modified modern-architecture Congonhas Airport terminal central hall

Queues at Congonhas Airport

Congonhas was São Paulo's main airport until 1985, when São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport was built because of congestion at Congonhas and because the latter's short runways could not handle the large aircraft required for long-haul flights.

In spite of that, Congonhas Airport continues to be important to the city for regional and short-distance domestic flights. Given the concentration of Brazil's economy in the Central-Southern region, where São Paulo is located, such flights make up the greatest share of the country's domestic air traffic. Therefore, even after Guarulhos International Airport was opened, Congonhas continued to face congestion problems (and still does), regarding both the number of passengers and the number of flight operations. In spite of continuing modernization works, it is a small and outdated airport for today's standards, and its relatively short runways cannot be extended because of the sheer urban growth of São Paulo, which has completely surrounded and engulfed the airport.

Indeed, the view from the landing approach to Congonhas can be spectacular, with the airplane flying very low over massive clusters of tall skyscrapers, especially when the plane approaches from the north. It is the short distance from downtown and from the major business areas of Paulista, Faria Lima and Luís Carlos Berrini avenues that still makes Congonhas a favorite of passengers, especially business travelers, much in the same way as Ronald Reagan National Airport next to Washington, D.C. and LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Former international operations

Aerial view.

Until the 1980s, Congonhas Airport operated direct international flights to neighbouring countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, as well as intercontinental flights changing planes at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport. However, since the opening of Guarulhos Airport, international flights are no longer operated (or even allowed) at Congonhas.

With a much longer runway and better weather conditions, Viracopos International Airport was (at least in theory) the main international airport serving São Paulo until 1985, but in practice its very distant location in Campinas, 100 km (62 miles) from downtown São Paulo, made it very inconvenient for passengers and airlines – so much that most international passengers preferred to board instead a flight from Congonhas Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão (or vice versa), connecting with their international flights there. At that time, Viracopos even appeared on the Guinness Book of Records as the farthest airport from the city it allegedly served, a dubious title that now probably rests with Stockholm-Västerås Airport, a secondary airport serving (at least nominally) Stockholm, Sweden, located about 110 km (68 miles) from that city.

Today, Guarulhos Airport handles all international passenger traffic to and from São Paulo, but Viracopos remains the second busiest Brazilian airport for cargo operations, both domestic and international. It also has some domestic passenger traffic, catering to the local market of the prosperous Campinas region.

Safety concerns

Workers adding grooves to the main runway at Congonhas Airport in 2007

The airport has been troubled by slippery runways and has had several accidents where water accumulation has been a significant factor (most notably, the one involving TAM Brazilian Airlines Flight 3054 in July 2007). Although the main runway was repaved in June 2007, its new rainwater drainage grooves were only finished in September 2007. The approach path over densely populated areas causes noise and raises further safety concerns.

The largest aircraft now operating at Congonhas are the Boeing 737-800 (Gol) and the Airbus A320 (TAM). However, in the past the airport used to have operations with Boeing 767^{[5] [6]} and Airbus A300 wide-body aircraft, by the now-defunct airlines Transbrasil, VASP and Cruzeiro.

In consequence of the TAM 3054 accident, and with the subsequent public outcry for more safety, the airport has had its operations significantly altered, through the reduction of landing slots and restrictions on flight distance and connections. This has reduced the maximum allowable gross weight of landing aircraft, increasing safety margins. To compensate for the traffic, there are talks of a third commercial airport to be built in a yet-undecided location in São Paulo, but experts heard by the Brazilian press say that the actual construction of such an airport is unlikely, and that an enlargement of Guarulhos Airport, coupled with improvement in the access to that farther airport, is much more likely and feasible.^[7]

General information

TAM Airbus A320 taking off from Congonhas

Airplanes waiting in line for take off at the congested Congonhas Airport.

• Main Terminal: 51,535 m² (554,718 sq.ft.)^[8]
• Main destinations: Rio de Janeiro (flights on average every 15 min), Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Curitiba (flights on average every 25-30 min to each destination).

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

Accidents with fatalities

• 27 August 1943: Vasp, a Junkers Ju-52/3mg3e registration PP-SPD, flying from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to Congonhas airport struck a building of the Naval Academy located close to the airport shortly after take-off under fog. The aircraft broke in two and one part fell in the water. Of the 21 passengers and crew, 3 survived.

• 31 August 1944: Panair do Brasil, a Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar registration PP-PBI crashed while on night approach to Congonhas Airport. All 18 occupants died.

• 13 March 1948: Cruzeiro do Sul, a Douglas C-53D-DO registration PP-CBX flying to Congonhas Airport crashed on Cantareira Range, near São Paulo. All 6 passengers and crew aboard died.

• 17 June 1953: Panair do Brasil, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation registration PP-PDA crashed on final approach to Congonhas Airport. Apparently causes are related to night operations with little visibility. All 17 passengers and crew died.

• 10 April 1957: Transportes Aéreos Nacional operated by Real Transportes Aéreos, a Douglas DC-3/C-47 registration PP-ANX, en route from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to Congonhas Airport, crashed into a mountain over the location of Ubatuba. The no. 2 engine caught fire, which forced the crew to make an emergency descent for Ubatuba. Due to rain, the crew noticed Papagaio Peak on Anchieta Island too late. The aircraft stalled during the evasive manoeuvre and crashed into the mountain. Of the 30 passengers and crew aboard, 26 died.

• 30 December 1958: Vasp, a Saab Scandia 90A-1 registration PP-SQE flying from Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont to Congonhas Airport, during climb after take-off had a failure on engine no. 1. The pilot initiated procedures to return to the airport but during the second turn the aircraft stalled and crashed into Guanabara Bay. Of the 37 passengers and crew aboard, 21 died.

• 26 November 1962: Vasp, a Saab Scandia 90A-1 registration PP-SRA, en route from Congonhas Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont collided in the air over the Municipality of Paraibuna, State of São Paulo with a private Cessna 310 registration PT-BRQ en route from Santos Dumont Airport to São Paulo - Campo de Marte. Both were flying on the same airway AB-6 in opposite directions and failed to have visual contact. The aircrafts crashed killing all 23 passengers and crew of the Saab and 4 occupants of the Cessna.

• 15 January 1963: Cruzeiro do Sul, a Convair 240-D registration PP-CEV on initial climb from Congonhas Airport crashed into houses after an engine failed. Of the 45 passengers and crew aboard, 6 died.

• 3 May 1963: Cruzeiro do Sul, a Convair 340-59 registration PP-CDW flying from Congonhas Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont had to return to São Paulo after no. 2 engine caught fire. When on finals to touch down, the aircraft nosed up 45°, stalled and struck a house. Of the 50 passengers and crew aboard, 37 died.

• 12 April 1980: Transbrasil flight 303, a Boeing 727-27C registration PT-TYS flying from Congonhas Airport to Florianópolis was on a night instrumental approach to Florianópolis under a severe thunderstorm. The aircraft went off course, struck a hill and exploded. Probable causes are misjudgment of speed and distance, inadequate flight supervision, failure to initiate a go-around and improper operation of the engines. Of the 58 passengers and crew aboard, 3 passengers survived.

• 31 October 1996: Tam, flight 402, a Fokker 100 registration PT-MRK, flying from Congonhas Airport to Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, crashed on urban area, during take-off procedures and after engine no.2 suffering an uncommanded reverse thrust and thus losing power, stalled, yawed to the right and struck a building. All 95 passengers and crew on board and 4 people on the ground died.

• 17 July 2007: Tam, flight 3054, on a flight from Porto Alegre with 181 passengers and six crew, overran the runway while attempting to land, crossed a major thoroughfare and impacted a TAM Express warehouse, killing 12 workers on ground, along with all of the 187 people on board. In total there were 199 fatal victims in the accident.^[9]

Incidents

• 24 October 2006: Tam, the forward airstair of a Fokker 100 separated from the aircraft just after the plane took off from Congonhas, hitting the roof of a supermarket. No one was injured in the accident, and the aircraft landed safely a few minutes later.^[10]

Technical Information

VOR/DME: CONGONHAS 116.9 (at field) NDB: SAO PAULO 250 (1.2 NM from field).

RUNWAYS:

17L/35R 1435 x 45 m (4708 x 148 ft.) PCN 38 F/B/X/U (over-run area of 67 m/220 ft. on 35R) 17R/35L 1940 x 45 m (6365 x 148 ft.) PCN 50 F/B/X/T

Displaced threshold of 126 m RWY 17R, and 61 m RWY 35L. Take-off at each end is 1940 m (6365 ft), but landing length is 1814 m (5951 ft) on 17R and 1879 m (6165 ft) on 35L. Preferred approach and departure runway is 17R.

LIGHTING:

17L/35R LIRL, REIL, PAPI 17R HIRL, REIL, PAPI, A1, SF 35L HIRL, REIL, PAPI

LIRL = Low Intensity Runway Lighting REIL = Runway End Identifier Lights PAPI = Precision Approach Path Indicators A1 = Approach Lighting System SF = Sequenced Flashing Lights (at end of runway)

See also

• List of the busiest airports in Brazil

References

External links

• Airport information for SBSP at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.. Source: DAFIF.
• Airport information for SBSP at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
• Current weather for SBSP at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for CGH at Aviation Safety Network

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