Airliner World – May 2018

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Airport Key Facts

Name Rio de Janeiro/Tom Jobim International Airport

IATA code GIG

ICAO code RJGG

Location 22°48’36’’S, 043°15’02’’ W

Elevation 28ft (9m)

Runways

10/28 13,123 x 148ft (4,000 x 45m)

15/33 10,433 x 154ft (3,180 x 47m)

Frequencies

Approach: 119.35 MHz

Tower: 118.20 MHz

Ground: 121.65 MHz

Website http://www.riogaleao.com

sub-five million travellers it was
handling at the time and so provided
room for substantial future growth.
One reason for the low traffic
numbers was the success of Rio’s other
airport, Santos Dumont (SDU) which
was handling five million passengers
per year, over three million more than
its designed capacity. Santos Dumont
is located right in Rio’s city centre, just a
short walk from the business district
and this, plus its small size, made it
hugely popular with travellers. To dis-
tribute passenger figures more evenly

between the two, a government decree

in 2004 stipulated only services on the

air bridge to São Paulo/Congonhas and

shorter regional links could operate

from SDU. All other services to cities

such as Recife, Fortaleza and the capital

Brasília were moved across to Galeão,

which could easily accommodate the

additional passengers and movements.

As a result, passenger figures jumped

from 4.6 million to 8.6 million between

2003 and 2005. Around that time

several international airlines added new

services while others increased

frequencies to GIG, such as LAN Chile

with flights from Santiago de Chile,

TAP Air Portugal from Porto and Delta

Air Lines from Atlanta. And a new

Brazilian carrier, Webjet (later taken

over by GOL Transportes Aéreos)

made Galeão the base for its low-

cost operations.

Another airport that had a strong

influence on the development of Galeão

was São Paulo’s Guarulhos. It is a

relatively new facility, opening in 1985,

but many international airlines quickly

moved their services from Rio as the

city became Brazil’s largest and its

primary economic powerhouse. Rio’s

status as the nation’s natural and main

gateway was suddenly threatened and

the more commercially attractive

destination of São Paulo made more

sense. Today, while GIG handles

around 16 million passengers per year,

36 million use Guarulhos.

Despite this, Galeão remains Brazil’s

second busiest hub, and still has its fair

selection of international carriers offer-

ing links to destinations across the

North and South American continents,

Europe and Africa. Many of these

have served the airport for decades.

Meanwhile, the regional network from

Galeão has spare capacity given that

Rio is still one of the largest cities on the

South American subcontinent.

However, it is the domestic network

that accounts for 75% of travellers using

GIG, with two airlines dominating the

market: GOL and LATAM. Each car-

rier serves almost 20 Brazilian destina-

tions, often with multiple daily links.

There are two other domestic carriers:

Avianca Brasil flies to ten cities while

Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras serves

three (see tables).

Tom Jobim International has three

Airbus A380-compatible parking stands

and was one of the first airports in

Latin America to be certified for the

type, joining Mexico City, Cancún and

Guarulhos. The first A380 to land here

on a commercial service was an Air

France example, flying a charter during

the 2016 Summer Olympics, although

it was preceded by an A380 prototype

landing here four years earlier as part of

a validation exercise. With the Brazilian

economic crisis still having an impact

on passenger numbers, no airlines are

currently planning to operate the super

jumbo into GIG.

The busiest day in its history, which

should not come as a complete surprise,

also occurred during the 2016 Olympic

Games. On August 22, 2016, the day

after the games ended, more than

85,000 people transited through the

facility and in addition to fully-booked

scheduled services, charter flights were

organised to collect competitors and

spectators. As well as quantity there

was variety, with many unusual

carriers visiting here, including Korean

Air, All Nippon Airways, Aeroflot,

Turkish Airlines and Qantas.

Brazil’s Busiest Hub

In terms of size, GIG is one of the

largest in South America, covering a

substantial proportion of Ilha do

Governador. It has two runways, both

have their western thresholds close to

each other, which enclose the airport’s

buildings in a triangular shape. To the

northeast is runway 10/28, while the

It is the domestic network

that accounts for 75% of

travellers using GIG,

with two airlines

dominating the market:

G O L and L ATA M.

One of the colourful infor-

mation counters dotted

around Terminal 2 that

assist with travellers’

questions. This example

is in the departures area.

ABOVE LEFT  Opening of

the South Pier has result-

ed in passengers having

to walk longer distances

to their gates. This is the

main concourse leading

to the departure gates

from the main part of

Terminal 2.

LEFT  A pair of LATAM

Airlines Brasil Airbus

A320s parked at

Terminal 2 await their

passengers. Both

aircraft retain the livery

worn prior to the carrier’s

merger with LAN Airlines

in June 2012.