Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport
Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport Aeroporto da Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public/Military | ||||||||||
| Operator |
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| Serves | Belo Horizonte | ||||||||||
| Opened | 3 March 1933 | ||||||||||
| Time zone | BRT (UTC−03:00) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 789 m / 2,589 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 19°51′07″S 043°57′02″W / 19.85194°S 43.95056°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
PLU Location in Brazil PLU PLU (Brazil Minas Gerais) PLU PLU (Brazil) | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2024) | |||||||||||
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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).[5]
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.[6] 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.[7]
On June 30, 2019 the airport was closed for scheduled operations and since then it is dedicated to general aviation, aircraft maintenance and flying schools operations.
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.[8]
On October 5, 2021, CCR won a 30-year concession to operate the airport.[9]
Airlines and destinations
No scheduled flights operate at this airport.
Statistics
Following is the number of passenger, aircraft and cargo movements at the airport, according to Infraero (2007-2021) and CCR (2022-2024) reports:[10][11][1]
| Year | Passenger | Aircraft | Cargo (t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024c | 59,682 | 50,584 | 0 100% |
| 2023 | 203,374 | 50,398 | 7 53% |
| 2022b | 137,101 | 28,750 | 15 1,400% |
| 2021 | 148,854 | 37,407 28% | 1 91% |
| 2020 | 149,441 17% | 29,319 19% | 11 1,100% |
| 2019a | 179,685 13% | 36,133 7% | 0 100% |
| 2018 | 205,615 12% | 38,667 4% | 4 400% |
| 2017 | 234,675 22% | 40,159 4% | 0 100% |
| 2016 | 300,061 58% | 41,640 18% | 14 250% |
| 2015 | 712,553 25% | 50,802 21% | 4 400% |
| 2014 | 945,434 4% | 64,096 2% | 0 |
| 2013 | 989,599 28% | 65,487 10% | 0 |
| 2012 | 774,881 2% | 72,892 11% | 0 |
| 2011 | 793,305 5% | 65,854 1% | 0 |
| 2010 | 757,685 27% | 66,650 14% | 0 |
| 2009 | 598,360 7% | 58,288 1% | 0 |
| 2008 | 561,189 26% | 57,776 9% | 0 100% |
| 2007 | 759,824 | 52,812 | 290 |
Note:
a: Operations of regular scheduled flights ceased on June 30, 2019.
b: 2022 series provided by CCR is incomplete, starting May 1, 2022, the day CCR took over the facility.
c: 2024 series provided by CCR is incomplete, lacking August.
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.[12][13]
- 20 April 2021: a Learjet 35A belonging to Electric Power Construção, registration PT-MLA, 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.[14]
- 6 March 2024: a Federal Police of Brazil Cessna 208 Grand Caravan, registration PR-AAB crashed on takeoff from runway 31. After takeoff, the engine failed and the pilots attempted an emergency landing on the opposite threshold. The aircraft collided with the ground. Two of the three onboard died.[15]
Access
The airport is located 8 km (5 mi) from downtown Belo Horizonte.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Movimentação Aeroportuária". CCR (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 February 2025.
- ^ "Pampulha". CCR Aeroportos (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
- ^ "Aeródromos". ANAC (in Portuguese). 15 October 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ "Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade (SBBH)". DECEA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ "Lei n˚11.002, de 16 de dezembro de 2004". Presidência da República (in Portuguese). 16 December 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Rittner, Daniel; Braga, Paulo Victor (31 August 2009). "Infraero vai gastar R$5 bi em reforma de aeroportos". Valor Econômico (in Portuguese). pp. A4. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ "Infraero passa Aeroporto da Pampulha para o estado de Minas Gerais". Agência Brasil (in Portuguese). 17 June 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Aeroporto da Pampulha, em BH, é leiloado por R$ 34 milhões". Aeroin (in Portuguese). 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ "Anuário Estatístico Operacional" (PDF). Infraero (in Portuguese). 12 April 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
- ^ "Estatísticas". Infraero (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 January 2025.
- ^ "Accident description PT-ANO". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Accident description PR-MLA". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ "Accident description PR-AAB". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
External links
- Airport information for SBBH at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- Current weather for SBBH at NOAA/NWS