Afonso Pena International Airport

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.

Afonso Pena International Airport

Aeroporto Internacional Afonso Pena
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorInfraero
ServesCuritiba
LocationSão José dos Pinhais, Brazil
Focus city forAzul Brazilian Airlines
Elevation AMSL911 m / 2,988 ft
Coordinates25°31′54″S 049°10′34″W
Websitewww4.infraero.gov.br/aeroportos/aeroporto-internacional-de-curitiba-afonso-pena/
Map
CWB
Location in Brazil
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 2,218 7,277 Asphalt
11/29 1,798 5,899 Asphalt
Statistics (2019)
Passengers6,502,746 3.0%
Aircraft Operations66,371 2.6%
Metric tonnes of cargo34,664 6.1%
Statistics: Infraero[1]
Sources: Airport Website,[2] ANAC[3]

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.

Terminal landside view

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.

Embraer 195 operating for Azul Brazilian Airlines

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 were held in Brazil, Curitiba being one of the venue cities. The investment included the enlargement of the apron and implementation of taxiways.[5] The terminal is 45,000 m², has 14 jetways, and is capable of handling 15 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.

According to AirHelp, it was listed as the 4th best airport in the world in 2019.

Panoramic view of the passenger terminal

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Aerolíneas Argentinas Buenos Aires–Ezeiza
Azul Brazilian Airlines Campinas
Gol Transportes Aéreos Brasília, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão, São Paulo–Congonhas, São Paulo–Guarulhos
LATAM Brasil Brasília, São Paulo–Congonhas, São Paulo–Guarulhos
Paranair Asunción
Dining area

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

Statistics
Year Total passengers % change Cargo
2003 2.407.441 -10,34% 20.729.587
2004 2.667.402 +10,80% 27.484.969
2005 3.200.535 +19,98% 24.616.883
2006 3.506.360 +9,56% 22.287.767
2007 3.854.118 +9,92% 23.685.980
2008 4.287.771 +11,25% 25.724.753
2009 4.897.427 +14,22% 23.307.059
2010 5.902.129 +20,51% 27.063.941
2011 6.958.424 +17,90 36.681.151
2012 6.994.059 +0,51% 11.322.053
2013 6.800.816 -2,76% 11.243.914
2014 7.300.262 +7,79% 13.017.451
2015 7.226.460 -1,42% 11.772.812
2016 6.339.043 -12,28% 9.322.162
2017 6.665.391 +5,15% 7.532.987
2018 6.348.071 -4,76%
2019 6.405.506 +0,89%

Source:[6]

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. Among the death includes Brazilian interim president at that time, Nereu Ramos. [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". Infraero (in Portuguese). 20 February 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  2. "Aeroporto Internacional Afonso Pena". Infraero (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  3. "Aeródromos". ANAC (in Portuguese). 15 October 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  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. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Accident description PP-CEP". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  13. "Accident description FAB-2292". Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

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