Tancredo Neves International Airport
Encyclopedia
Tancredo Neves International Airport , formerly called Confins International Airport, is the main airport serving Belo Horizonte
, Brazil
, located in the adjoining municipality of Confins
. Since September 2, 1986 the airport is named after Tancredo de Almeida Neves
(1910-1985), President-elect of Brazil.
In 2010, the airport was ranked 7th in terms of transported passengers and 10th in terms of aircraft operations in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country. It is operated by Infraero
.
and inaugurated in 1984. Its purpose was to lessen the congestion at Pampulha Airport, which at the time was operating at 120% of its capacity of 1.3 million passengers per year. It was expected that by 1990, passenger movement at Confins would be nearly 2 million passengers per year. However, it surpassed the 1 million passenger mark only 22 years later. Presently its maximum operational capacity is 5 million passengers per year.
After its inauguration, just a small fraction of the capacity of Confins was used. This was partly due to its distance from downtown Belo Horizonte and, until recently, to the lack of satisfactory transportation alternatives for the pricey (about USD40) taxi rides. The over-crowded Pampulha Airport remained the airport of choice.
In order to revert this scenario, in March 2005 the government of the state of Minas Gerais
with the support of agencies of the Federal government decided to restrict Pampulha to operations of aircraft with capacity of up to 50 passengers. In the months thereafter, most operations were forced to move to Confins and the airport gained a new momentum. At that time, 130 flights were transferred from Pampulha to Confins, increasing annual passenger flow from 350,000 to around 3.0 million that year.
The problems related to the distance of Confins to downtown Belo Horizonte were lessened by recent projects such as the improvement of the highway that links the city center to the airport (MG-10 highway), part of a larger project called Linha Verde (Green Line), which seeks to reduce the time needed to reach the airport. Another project called the "Industrial Airport" in underway. In this project the government will exempt tax of businesses interested in settling their operations near the airport.
Its cargo facilities have a capacity of handling 18.000 tones (39.682.000 lb) and the warehouse has 6.400 m² (68.889 ft²).
The main maintenance facilities of Gol Airlines are located at this airport.
On April 26, 2011 it was confirmed that in order to speed-up much needed renovation and up-grade works, private companies will be granted a concession to explore some Infraero airports among them, on a second phase, Confins. The plan was confirmed on May 31, 2011 and it was added that Infraero would retain 49% of the shares of each privatized airport and that negotioations are expected to be concluded on the first half of 2012.
which will be held in Brazil, Belo Horizonte being one of the venue cities. The investiment will be distributed as follows:
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, located in the adjoining municipality of Confins
Confins
Confins is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population as of 2006 is estimated to be 5,802 people. The area of the municipality is 42.008 km². The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte...
. Since September 2, 1986 the airport is named after Tancredo de Almeida Neves
Tancredo Neves
Tancredo de Almeida Neves, SFO more commonly Tancredo Neves was a Brazilian politician. He was born in São João del Rey, in the state of Minas Gerais, of mostly Portuguese, but also Austrian descent and graduated in law. The Neves family name comes from an Azorean great great grandfather...
(1910-1985), President-elect of Brazil.
In 2010, the airport was ranked 7th in terms of transported passengers and 10th in terms of aircraft operations in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country. It is operated by Infraero
Infraero
Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1972 and responsible for operating the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2009, Infraero's airports carried 128,135,616 passengers and 1,114,754 tons of cargo and operated...
.
History
The airport was built by InfraeroInfraero
Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1972 and responsible for operating the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2009, Infraero's airports carried 128,135,616 passengers and 1,114,754 tons of cargo and operated...
and inaugurated in 1984. Its purpose was to lessen the congestion at Pampulha Airport, which at the time was operating at 120% of its capacity of 1.3 million passengers per year. It was expected that by 1990, passenger movement at Confins would be nearly 2 million passengers per year. However, it surpassed the 1 million passenger mark only 22 years later. Presently its maximum operational capacity is 5 million passengers per year.
After its inauguration, just a small fraction of the capacity of Confins was used. This was partly due to its distance from downtown Belo Horizonte and, until recently, to the lack of satisfactory transportation alternatives for the pricey (about USD40) taxi rides. The over-crowded Pampulha Airport remained the airport of choice.
In order to revert this scenario, in March 2005 the government of the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
with the support of agencies of the Federal government decided to restrict Pampulha to operations of aircraft with capacity of up to 50 passengers. In the months thereafter, most operations were forced to move to Confins and the airport gained a new momentum. At that time, 130 flights were transferred from Pampulha to Confins, increasing annual passenger flow from 350,000 to around 3.0 million that year.
The problems related to the distance of Confins to downtown Belo Horizonte were lessened by recent projects such as the improvement of the highway that links the city center to the airport (MG-10 highway), part of a larger project called Linha Verde (Green Line), which seeks to reduce the time needed to reach the airport. Another project called the "Industrial Airport" in underway. In this project the government will exempt tax of businesses interested in settling their operations near the airport.
Its cargo facilities have a capacity of handling 18.000 tones (39.682.000 lb) and the warehouse has 6.400 m² (68.889 ft²).
The main maintenance facilities of Gol Airlines are located at this airport.
On April 26, 2011 it was confirmed that in order to speed-up much needed renovation and up-grade works, private companies will be granted a concession to explore some Infraero airports among them, on a second phase, Confins. The plan was confirmed on May 31, 2011 and it was added that Infraero would retain 49% of the shares of each privatized airport and that negotioations are expected to be concluded on the first half of 2012.
Airlines and destinations
Accident
- 15 September 2001: a TAM Airlines Fokker 100 registration PT-MRN operating the charter flight 9755, flying from Recife to Campinas-Viracopos, following an uncontrolled engine failure en route to Campinas had 3 cabin windows shattered by fragments of the engine and made an emergency landing at Belo Horizonte-Confins. One passenger was sucked out partly and held by another passenger until the aircraft landed. The passenger did not survive.
Incident
- 29 September 1988: VASPVASPViação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-300Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PP-SNT operating flight 375 en route from Belo Horizonte-Confins to Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
was hijacked by 1 person who wanted to force a crash on the Palácio do PlanaltoPalácio do PlanaltoThe Palácio do Planalto is the official workplace of the President of Brazil. It is located at the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, Brazil. As the seat of government, the term Planalto is often used as a metonym for the executive branch of the government.The main working office of the President...
, the official presidential workplace in BrasíliaBrasíliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
. The pilot convinced the hijacker to divert to GoiâniaSanta Genoveva AirportSanta Genoveva/Goiânia Airport is the airport serving Goiânia, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-History:The airport was inaugurated in 1955 although operations started a few years earlier...
where an emergency landing was made. The hijack ended with 1 victim.
Access
The airport is located 38 km (24 mi) north of downtown Belo Horizonte. It is regularly served by buses, taxis and Executive Airport Shuttle Buses. When using buses, transfer to the subway of Belo Horizonte is possible. Tickets are available at booths in the arrivals area.Future developments
On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL342.3 million (USD180.3 million; EUR126.4 million) investiment plan to up-grade Tancredo Neves International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014....
which will be held in Brazil, Belo Horizonte being one of the venue cities. The investiment will be distributed as follows:
- Parking. Value 6.8. Completed: July 2010
- Extension of runway, enlargement of apron and cargo terminal, construction of further taxiways. Value 120.0. Completion: July 2013
- Renovation of the passenger terminal. Value 215.5. Completion: March 2014