Rio Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport

Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, officially Aeroporto Internacional Tom Jobim and now branded Rio Galeão, is the principal international gateway to Rio de Janeiro and historically the largest international airport in Brazil, though passenger volumes have been significantly reduced in recent years as domestic traffic has migrated to Santos Dumont (SDU) in downtown Rio. Located on Governador Island 12 mi (20 km) north of central Rio at 28 ft (9 m) elevation in Guanabara Bay, GIG handles 88 routes across 50 destinations through 28 airlines. The airport is named for Antônio Carlos "Tom" Jobim, the Brazilian composer of bossa nova classics including The Girl from Ipanema, a renaming that took effect in 1999. GIG serves as a secondary hub for LATAM Brasil, Azul, and GOL, with American Airlines previously operating a significant South American hub before consolidation of its Latin American operations. International long-haul service includes American (Miami), Delta (Atlanta), United (Houston, Newark), Air France (Paris), KLM (Amsterdam), Lufthansa (Frankfurt, seasonal), TAP Portugal (Lisbon — a major European entry point for Portuguese-Brazilian traffic), Iberia (Madrid), British Airways (London), Turkish Airlines (Istanbul), Emirates (Dubai), Qatar Airways (Doha), Ethiopian (Addis Ababa), and Latin American operators including Aerolíneas Argentinas, Avianca, Copa, LATAM Chile, and Sky Airline. Domestic service connects GIG to major Brazilian cities, though SDU handles the majority of high-frequency Rio–São Paulo and Rio–Brasília shuttle traffic given its downtown location. GIG traffic patterns were heavily affected by the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics, both of which used the airport as the primary gateway. The airfield has two asphalt/concrete runways — 10/28 at 13,123 ft (4,000 m) in concrete and 15/33 at 10,433 ft (3,180 m) in asphalt — both capable of full widebody operations. Two terminal buildings are connected by an elevated walkway, with Terminal 2 handling most international traffic and Terminal 1 operating primarily domestic flights. GIG was operated by the RIOgaleão concessionaire (a consortium led by Changi Airports International and Odebrecht) under a long-term concession from 2014, though the concession faced significant financial stress and has been subject to renegotiation. The airport sits on one of the most dramatic natural settings of any major world airport, with the runway oriented across Guanabara Bay and views of the Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado from approach.