Porto Alegre International Airport Salgado Filho

Salgado Filho Porto Alegre International Airport is the airport serving Porto Alegre and the region of Greater Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is named after the Senator and first Minister of the Brazilian Air Force Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho. It is operated by Fraport Brasil.

In 1932, needing a facility to use its aircraft with landing-gear which were replacing its seaplanes, Varig started using São João Airport as its operational base. However, it was only in 1940 that the first passenger terminal was commissioned.

In 1953 the old terminal was incorporated into the maintenance facilities of Varig, a new passenger terminal was opened, and runways were paved. Until that year larger aircraft such as Lockheed L-049 Constellations had to land at Canoas Air Force Base. This new terminal is known today as Passenger Terminal 2. It underwent major renovations and enlargements between 1969 and 1971 but unable to cope with the increasing traffic, another brand new facility was built. This new facility was named Passenger Terminal 1 and opened on September 11, 2001. Terminal 2 became underused by general aviation and cargo services.

However, in order to cope with the increasing passenger traffic at the airport, on September 8, 2010 a decision was made to renovate Terminal 2 and bring it back into passenger use. It became operational on December 4, 2010. This terminal 2 was again closed for air traffic on September 15, 2019 and it became the administration center of Fraport Brasil S.A.- Aeroporto de Porto Alegre.

Previously operated by Infraero, in January 2018, the airport’s operations and administration were taken over by the German private airport operator Fraport, which in the previous year had been the winning bidder in an B3 (stock exchange) auction conducted by the Brazilian government for the concession of the airport for 25 years. Since the airport concession, Fraport has been expanding the runway from the current 2,280 meters to 3,200 meters, allowing the landing of large aircraft and allowing the landing of flights from North America and Europe. It is expected that the expansion works will be concluded at the end of 2021.

As of May 2022, the airport’s expanded 3,200 m runway began to come into operation. With the runway expansion, larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777-300 and Airbus 330-900 can operate at the airport, allowing direct flights to Europe and the United States.