Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport

Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (IATA: PLU, ICAO: SBBH) is an airport serving Belo Horizonte, Brazil, located in the neighborhood of Pampulha. Since December 16, 2004, the airport is also named after the Minas Gerais-born poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987).[4]

Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport

Aeroporto da Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Summary
Airport typePublic/Military
Operator
ServesBelo Horizonte
Opened3 March 1933 (1933-03-03)
Time zoneBRT (UTC−03:00)
Elevation AMSL789 m / 2,589 ft
Coordinates19°51′07″S 043°57′02″W
Websitewww.ccraeroportos.com.br/pampulha-mg
Map
PLU is located in Brazil
PLU
PLU
Location in Brazil
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 2,364 7,756 Asphalt
Statistics (2021)
Passengers148,854 Steady
Aircraft Operations37,407 Increase 28%
Metric tonnes of cargo1 Decrease 91%
Statistics: Infraero[1]
Sources: Airport Website,[2] ANAC[3]

The airport is operated by CCR.

History

Pampulha Airport was opened in 1933 as a support facility for passenger flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force between Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza. The first commercial operation started in 1936, when Panair do Brasil was granted a concession to fly between Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte.

In 1943, the runway was extended to 1,500m x 45m, in 1953 to 1,700m, and finally in 1961 to 2,505m.

With the great increase of traffic at Pampulha Airport, the facility became too small and unable to handle all operations. For this reason, the new Tancredo Neves International Airport was built in the adjoining municipality of Confins. The new facility was opened in 1984.

Due to the long distance between Belo Horizonte and Confins, Pampulha remained the airport of choice for most airlines, eventually becoming overcrowded, while Confins was under-used. 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.[5] In the months thereafter, most operations were forced to move to Confins and Pampulha gained a new vocation as a hub for regional flights and general aviation.

On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL8.4 million (USD4.4 million; EUR3.1 million) investment plan to upgrade Pampulha Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil, Belo Horizonte being one of the venue cities. The investment was used to build a new control tower, upgrade the general aviation hangars, and enlarge the apron.[6]

Between 1973 and 2020, the airport was operated by Infraero. On June 17, 2020, the Federal Government signed and agreement to transfer the administration of the airport from Infraero to the Government of the State of Minas Gerais. The transition period ended on December 31, 2020.[7]

On October 5, 2021, CCR won a 30-year concession to operate the airport.[8]

Airlines and destinations

No scheduled flights operate at this airport.

Accidents and incidents
  • 31 May 1954: Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Douglas DC-3/C-47A-80-DL, registration PP-ANO, en route from Governador Valadares to Belo Horizonte-Pampulha, strayed off course and struck the Cipó mountain range in cloudy conditions. All 19 passengers and crew died.[9][10]
  • 20 April 2021: a Learjet 35A of Electric Power Construção crashed during landing after a test flight. The plane had a runway excursion, breaking a perimeter fence. One of the two pilots was killed, and two other occupants were injured.[11]

Access

The airport is located 8 km (5 mi) from downtown Belo Horizonte.

See also

References
  1. "Estatísticas". Infraero (in Portuguese). 14 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  2. "Pampulha". CCR Aeroportos (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  3. "Aeródromos". ANAC (in Portuguese). 15 October 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  4. "Lei n˚11.002, de 16 de dezembro de 2004". Presidência da República (in Portuguese). 16 December 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  5. "Portaria n 189/DGAC, de 8 de março de 2005" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Ministério da Aeronáutica; Departamento de Aviação Civil. 10 March 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  6. Rittner, Daniel; Braga, Paulo Victor (31 August 2009). "Infraero vai gastar R$5 bi em reforma de aeroportos". Valor Econômico (in Portuguese). pp. A4. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  7. "Infraero passa Aeroporto da Pampulha para o estado de Minas Gerais". Agência Brasil (in Portuguese). 17 June 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  8. "Aeroporto da Pampulha, em BH, é leiloado por R$ 34 milhões". Aeroin (in Portuguese). 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. "Accident description PT-ANO". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  10. Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Serra do Cipó". 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. 132–139. ISBN 978-85-7430-760-2.
  11. "ASN Aircraft accident Learjet 35A PR-MLA Belo Horizonte/Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, MG (PLU)".
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