Afonso Pena International Airport

Afonso Pena International Airport
Aeroporto Internacional Afonso Pena
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Infraero
Serves Curitiba
Location São José dos Pinhais, Brazil
Focus city for Azul Brazilian Airlines
Elevation AMSL 911 m / 2,988 ft
Coordinates 25°31′52″S 049°10′32″W / 25.53111°S 49.17556°W / -25.53111; -49.17556Coordinates: 25°31′52″S 049°10′32″W / 25.53111°S 49.17556°W / -25.53111; -49.17556
Website infraero.gov.br
Map
CWB
Location in Brazil
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 2,215 7,267 Asphalt
11/29 1,800 5,905 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 6,722,058 Increase 5.2%
Aircraft Operations 66,114 Decrease 1.1%
Metric tonnes of cargo 25,739 Increase 0.1%
Statistics: Infraero[1]
Sources: Airport Website,[2] ANAC[3]

Afonso Pena International Airport (IATA: CWB, ICAO: SBCT) is the main airport serving Curitiba, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of São José dos Pinhais. It is named after Afonso Pena (1847–1909), the 6th President of Brazil. It is operated by Infraero.

History

As it was the case with many important Brazilian airports located in strategic points along the coast, Afonso Pena, was built by the Brazilian Air Force Ministry in partnership with the United States Army during the Second World War. However, since its construction was completed only in 1945, shortly before the end of the war, Afonso Pena never saw heavy military movement. In 1946 most of its movement comprised civil operations.

The original passenger terminal was in use until 1959 when a brand new terminal was built. This second terminal is today used for cargo operations. In 1996, the present passenger terminal was built.

The main problem of the airport are the unstable weather conditions of the region, particularly fog and smog in the morning hours of winter and the fact that the auxiliary runway 11/29 is too small and plagued with old equipment. There are also plans to upgrade runway 15/33 from an ILS CAT II runway to ILS CAT III.

Since the bottleneck for the airport is the cargo capacity, the main runway was lengthened in 2008 to allow cargo flights to operate with greater loads and the cargo terminal was upgraded.[4]

On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL30 million (USD16 million; EUR11 million) investment plan to upgrade Afonso Pena International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, Curitiba being one of the venue cities. The investment will include the enlargement of the apron and implementation of taxiways with completion scheduled for March 2011.[5]

Facilities

The terminal is 45,000 m², has 14 jetways, and is capable of handling 3.5 million passengers annually. There are 800 parking places. The airport complex includes a small museum, a playcenter and a mall with 60 stores inside the main terminal.

Panoramic view of the passenger terminal

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Aerolíneas Argentinas Buenos Aires-Aeroparque
Amaszonas Paraguay Asunción [6]
Avianca Brazil Brasília, São Paulo-Guarulhos
Azul Brazilian Airlines Belo Horizonte-Confins, Campinas, Campo Grande, Cascavel, Foz do Iguaçu, Londrina, Maringá, Porto Alegre, Porto Seguro, Recife, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos
Gol Airlines Brasília, Maringá, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos
LATAM Brasil Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, São Paulo-Congonhas, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Salvador
Passaredo Linhas Aéreas Cascavel, Ribeirão Preto

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
Lufthansa Cargo Dakar, Frankfurt
Cargolux Luxembourg
Cargolux Italia Milan-Malpensa
LAN Cargo Amsterdam
Total Linhas Aéreas Florianópolis, São Paulo-Guarulhos

Accidents and incidents

  • 16 June 1958: a Cruzeiro do Sul Convair 440-59, registration PP-CEP, flying from Florianópolis to Curitiba, was on final approach procedures to land at Curitiba in bad weather when it was caught in windshear. The aircraft descended and struck the ground. Of the 27 passengers and crew aboard, 24 died.[7][8]
  • 3 November 1967: a Sadia Handley Page Dart Herald 214, registration PP-SDJ, flying from São Paulo-Congonhas to Curitiba, collided with a hill during approach to land at Curitiba. All 5 crew members and 21 passengers died. 4 passengers survived.[9][10]
  • 16 August 2000: a VASP Boeing 737-2A1 registration PP-SMG, en route from Foz do Iguaçu to Curitiba, was hijacked by 5 persons demanding the BRL 5 million (approximately US$2.75 million at that time) that the aircraft was transporting. The pilot was forced to land at Porecatu, where the hijackers fled with the money. There were no injuries.[11][12]
  • 26 December 2002: a Brazilian Air Force Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante, registration FAB-2292, en route from São Paulo-Campo de Marte to Florianópolis Air Force Base, crashed while trying to carry out an emergency landing at Curitiba-Afonso Pena. Reportedly, both engines had shut down. The airplane had taken off with insufficient fuel on board to complete the flight to Florianópolis. Of the 16 people on board, 1 crew member and 2 passengers died.[13]

Access

The airport is located 18 km (11 mi) southeast of downtown Curitiba.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Estatísticas" (in Portuguese). Infraero. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Airport Official Website" (in Portuguese). Infraero.
  3. ↑ "Lista de aeródromos públicos" (in Portuguese). ANAC.
  4. ↑ "Programa de Aceleramento do Crescimento (PAC) em Aeroportos" (in Portuguese). Aviação Brasil. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
  5. ↑ Rittner, Daniel; Braga, Paulo Victor (31 August 2009). "Infraero vai gastar R$5 bi em reforma de aeroportos". Valor Econômico (in Portuguese). pp. A4.
  6. ↑ Amaszonas volará a 3 nuevos destinos desde noviembre
  7. ↑ "Accident description PP-CEP". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  8. ↑ Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Tesoura de vento". 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. 165–168. ISBN 978-85-7430-760-2.
  9. ↑ "Accident description PP-SDJ". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  10. ↑ Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Serra da Graciosa". 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. 256–261. ISBN 978-85-7430-760-2.
  11. ↑ "Incident description PP-SMG". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  12. ↑ Maschio, José (21 August 2000). "PF liga sequestro de avião da VASP à rebelião em penitenciária em Roraima" (in Portuguese). Folha Online. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "Accident description FAB-2292". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

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