An IATA airport code , also known as an IATA location identifier , IATA station code , or simply a location identifier , is a three-letter geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.
77-459: São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport ( IATA : GRU , ICAO : SBGR ), commonly known as São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport , is the primary international airport serving São Paulo , being the largest airport in Brazil , South America and one of the largest in the world. It is popularly known locally as either Cumbica Airport , after the district where it
154-405: A large air cargo terminal with a built area of 97,000 square metres (1,040,000 sq ft) and is capable of handling any type of cargo, including refrigerated and hazardous shipments. There are two navigational aids that GRU traffic uses. The Bonsucesso very high frequency omnidirectional range with distance measuring equipment (VOR-DME) is located 9.1 kilometres; 5.6 miles (4.9 nmi) to
231-401: A much more extensive network, which covered virtually every major Brazilian city with an airport and in the 1990s included such international destinations as: Buenos Aires–Ezeiza , Quito , Miami , New York–JFK , Los Angeles , San Francisco , Toronto–Pearson , Seoul–Gimpo , Casablanca , Barcelona , Lisbon , Brussels , Osaka–Kansai , Athens , Frankfurt and Zürich . Over the years,
308-423: A myriad of political and economic problems, the actual construction did not begin until 2011. In 2010, the airport served more than 26.8 million passengers, an increase of 24% over 2009 and passenger volumes were 31% in excess of its capacity rated at 20.5 million per year at its present configuration. In order to relieve the acute overcrowding at Terminals 1 and 2, Infraero announced on May 17, 2011 that
385-400: A national airline when it acquired Lóide Aéreo Nacional , and with it its license to operate nationwide. On 6 July 1959, VASP, Cruzeiro do Sul and Varig initiated the air shuttle services between Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and São Paulo-Congonhas airports, the first of its kind in the world. The three companies coordinated their schedules, operations, and shared revenue. The service
462-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This
539-579: A one-time special flight with the A380 on its Dubai -São Paulo route to commemorate its eight years of operations in Brazil. On March 26, 2017, Emirates started daily A380 service from Dubai to São Paulo, replacing the Boeing 777-300ER previously used on that route – coincidentally, on the same day that the other UAE airline, Etihad , ended its services to São Paulo. GRU has two parallel runways. Runway 10R/28L
616-536: A platform of that multimodal station's North side bus terminal. At the airport, the stop for both buses is at the Arrivals level road connecting the wings of Terminal 2. Gol Airlines and LATAM offer for their passengers free bus transfers between Guarulhos and Congonhas airports at regular times. Viação Cometa offers daily departures to and from the airport and the cities of Santos , Sorocaba , São Vicente , and Praia Grande . Lirabus operates daily buses between
693-516: A week, but still only from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Full service from 4 a.m. to midnight is expected in late June 2018. Additionally, since December 2020 there's the Airport Express service, from Luz station to Aeroporto-Guarulhos , departing from each termini station every hour. It attends only one station towards Aeroporto-Guarulhos ( Guarulhos-CECAP station), and 2 stations towards Luz (Guarulhos-CECAP and Brás ). Aeroporto-Guarulhos station
770-534: Is 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) long and 45 metres (148 ft) wide, while runway 10L/28R is 3,700 metres (12,140 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide, after being widened in 2015 to better receive the Airbus A380 . The field elevation at the airport is 750 metres (2,459 ft) above mean sea level. Runway 10R/28L is mostly used for landings and runway 10L/28R for takeoffs. There are high-speed exit taxiways on both runways that allow for traffic to depart
847-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow
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#1732790345729924-627: Is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,
1001-617: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and
1078-523: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at
1155-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU
1232-577: Is located and the Brazilian Air Force base that exists at the airport complex, or Guarulhos Airport, after the municipality of Guarulhos , in the state of São Paulo , where it is located. Since November 28, 2001, the airport has been named after André Franco Montoro (1916–1999), former Governor of São Paulo state . The airport was rebranded as GRU Airport in 2012. The airport is the busiest in Brazil in terms of transported passengers, aircraft operations, and cargo handled, placing it as
1309-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier
1386-425: Is opposite to Terminal 1, which is Guarulhos Airport's smallest and least busy, and not linked to the other terminals except by a shuttle bus. The GRU Airport company reportedly vetoed a station closer to much busier Terminals 2 and 3 because it intended to build a shopping mall at the proposed location. The excessive number of train changes through crowded commuter rail and subway lines, and the added inconvenience of
1463-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained
1540-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with
1617-619: The LATAM Hangar of R$ 130 million. The American Airlines one is capable of performing line maintenance on two wide-body aircraft at the same time, of the types commonly used by the U.S. company on routes between São Paulo and the United States and the LATAM one is capable of performing line maintenance of one wide-body aircraft . It could also be used by other companies as storage for parts . The same conditions applies to
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#17327903457291694-489: The 17 million of the existing two terminals. Plans for a third runway were decided to be "technically impracticable" and were cancelled in January 2008. However, the former concessionary, Infraero, experienced many legal and bureaucratic difficulties, which prevented most (if any) of these improvements from being completed on schedule. As of April 2013, the new concessionary unveiled a new expansion project, which included
1771-650: The CPTM station directly to the airport, estimated to be opened in May 2021. However, many delays prevented the construction of the line, which should be owned and fully operated by GRU Airport. In November 2020, the Brazilian federal government, through the Ministry of Infrastructure, authorized the construction of the people mover, which should cost R$ 175 million (approximately US$ 47.7 million in 2019). In December 2020 it
1848-433: The LATAM maintenance center. Note: : Flights operated with Voepass equipment on behalf of LATAM Brasil . Following is the number of passenger, aircraft and cargo movements at the airport, according to Infraero (2007-2012) and GRU Airport (2013-2023) reports: The airport is located 25 km (16 mi) from downtown São Paulo . The airport has its own highway system: Rodovia Hélio Smidt Highway which connects
1925-495: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . VASP Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A (São Paulo Airways), better known as VASP ,
2002-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append
2079-629: The administration of the airport was conceded, for 20 years, to the Consortium Invepar–ACSA, also known as GRU Airport, composed by the Brazilian Invepar, an Investments and Funds Society (90%) and the South African ACSA–Airports Company South Africa (10%). Infraero, the state-run organisation, remains with 49% of the shares of the company incorporated for the administration. On December 2, 2015,
2156-399: The airline from operating scheduled services pending a financial investigation. VASP was allowed to operate charter services until April 2005, giving it a chance to prove its financial stability in order to retain its air operator certificate. By December 2007, the once-proud company had stopped flying altogether, and was reduced to providing maintenance services to other airlines. Even during
2233-467: The airport achieved the same position in a survey carried out by FlightStats. In 2021, it was chosen by the Club Med study as one of the 35 best in the world for long layovers . In a survey carried out by Cirium Aviation, it reached first position among the most punctual large airports in the world and second place in the "Global" category in 2024; that same year, São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport
2310-459: The airport and Campinas . Pássaro Marron offers bus services to São José dos Campos with departures every two hours. Viação Transdutra connects the airport with the city of Arujá . Line 13-Jade of the São Paulo commuter rail system, operated by CPTM , connects with the airport through Aeroporto-Guarulhos Station. This line started its operations experimentally on March 31, 2018. The line
2387-547: The airport has been operated by a consortium composed of Invepar S/A , Airports Company South Africa , and Infraero . Some of its facilities are shared with the São Paulo Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force . In 2017, it was considered by the company OAG the second best in punctuality in the world and first in Latin America, a position above that achieved in the previous year. In 2019
São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,
2541-772: The airport to Presidente Dutra Highway or Ayrton Senna Highway . Residents of Guarulhos can access the road via Monteiro Lobato Avenue. Taxi stands are located outside each of the two terminals on the Arrivals level; inside there are car rental agency representatives. Bus transportation is available through the Airport Bus Service, an executive bus line, administered by EMTU and operated by Consórcio Internorte – Área 3 . This service provides transportation connecting Guarulhos to Congonhas airport; to Tietê Bus Terminal ; to Palmeiras-Barra Funda Intermodal Terminal , to Faria Lima Ave; To Republica Square (Praça da República); To Berrini Ave., Itaim Bibi district ; and to
2618-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after
2695-438: The airport's terminals were renumbered. Former Terminal 4 was renumbered Terminal 1; former terminals 1 and 2, which were wings of a single building, became the new Terminal 2. Terminal 3 kept its numbering. The new numbering reflects the order by which terminals are reached when one arrives at the airport by the access road, and is expected to be less confusing in the long term. Check-in counters and gates were also renumbered, with
2772-469: The areas of Galeão Air Force Base in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo Air Force Base in São Paulo. In relation to São Paulo, the initial planning of the airport involved three runways and four passenger terminals. However, the first phase of the construction comprising two runways and two terminals started only on August 11, 1980. The airport was officially inaugurated on January 20, 1985. Quickly Guarulhos became
2849-412: The battle against Real, which was anyway bought by Varig in 1961. Sadia Transportes Aéreos joined the service in 1968. Between 1975 and 1992, it was operated exclusively by Varig's Lockheed L-188 Electra , which for sometime and for the sake of neutrality did not have the name Varig on the fuselage. Although it had been remarkably well-run for most of its life as a state-owned company, by the 1980s VASP
2926-401: The building in 1936 of one of the country's most important airports, Congonhas , located in the city of São Paulo, far from the coast. During its early years, Congonhas Airport was popularly known as Campo da VASP ("VASP's airfield"). In 1939, VASP bought Aerolloyd Iguassu , which included also a license to operate flights to the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina . In 1962, VASP became
3003-612: The circuit of hotels along Paulista Avenue and Rua Augusta. The ride takes about one hour, depending on traffic. At the airport, tickets can be purchased at the counter located outside the lounge of the Terminal 1, Wing B's arrivals level. Pássaro Marron/EMTU, a syndicate of the Internorte Consortium, offers two regular bus lines, 257 and 299, connecting Tatuapé subway station (Line 3-Red) with Guarulhos Airport every 30 minutes. At Tatuapé, both buses can be picked up on
3080-487: The city's primary airport, supplanting São Paulo–Congonhas Airport . In 1989, the runways were extended and the terminals renovated, enlarged, and had their capacity increased from 7.5 million to 8.25 million passengers/year. The whole complex covered 13.86 square kilometres (3,425 acres), of which 5 square kilometres (1,200 acres) is urbanised area. Construction of Terminal 3, capable of handling 12 million passengers per year, had been planned since 2001 but due to
3157-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share
São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-415: The country, and created international routes. Until VASP's entry into the international market, Varig had, for all intents and purposes, been Brazil's sole international airline since 1965. However, after many years of mismanagement, financial losses, soaring debt and bad credit, in 2002 it cancelled all of its international operations to concentrate in the domestic market. By that time, VASP had plummeted from
3311-492: The east of GRU. In 2009 Infraero unveiled a R$ 1,489.5 million (US$ 784.7 USD million; €549.8 EUR million) investment plan to upgrade Guarulhos International Airport, focusing on preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics in 2016. The investment was supposed to be used as follows: Central to this investment plan was Terminal 3, which is projected to add 12 million passenger capacity to
3388-934: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through
3465-463: The events that take place on the top floor of the used car shopping centre. The last so-called artistic intervention was by Red Room, a production company that is taking German DJ Emanuel Satie, who plays Melodic House & Techno, to the capital of Minas Gerais, as well as Brazilian DJ Jessica Brankka, who recently broke through with the track Too Many Roads. The B737 is the backdrop for a sunset event starting at 6 pm on Saturday, March 18, 2023. The idea
3542-506: The facility. A train service development and construction has also been planned, however never concluded and cancelled. This included an Airport Express Line linking the airport to downtown São Paulo and a Rio–São Paulo high-speed rail connecting Guarulhos to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão and Campinas-Viracopos airports. Since March 2017 American Airlines invested US$ 100 million on a 17,000 m (180,000 sq ft) maintenance hangar at Guarulhos Airport, building together with
3619-556: The first digit being now the new terminal number. On October 28, 2015, the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (Anac) authorised Airbus A380 operations at Guarulhos Airport, effective four days later. The authorisation was granted after extensive works were conducted on the runways and taxiways (including widening runway 09L/27R to 60 metres (196 ft 10 in)) and special taxiing procedures were established. On November 14, 2015, Emirates operated
3696-402: The first operator of the legendary Boeing model in Brazil, is today at Auto Shopping Só Marcas, in the city of Contagem, almost on the border with Belo Horizonte. With the old license plate PP-SMC, this B737-200 was manufactured in 1969 and flew exclusively on the former VASP, until the company closed, staying at Congonhas Airport for several years, until it was auctioned and bought by the owner of
3773-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from
3850-464: The fleet of VASP consisted of the following aircraft: VASPEX was the company's subsidiary for immediate dispatch of correspondence, documents and objects. It filed for bankruptcy, but ended up going bankrupt with VASP on September 4, 2008. It operated the Boeing 727 and 737-200 for almost all of Brazil. It was created to operate together with VASP delivering orders of the type. The 3rd ex-VASP B737,
3927-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When
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#17327903457294004-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after
4081-431: The former cargo terminals of defunct airlines VASP and Transbrasil , later used by Federal Agencies, would undergo renovations and adaptations for use as domestic passenger terminals with remote boarding. This new terminal was initially called Terminal 4 (T4). The first phase of the renovations, comprising the former VASP terminal, opened on February 8, 2012, and the second phase, comprising the former Transbrasil terminal,
4158-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in
4235-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from
4312-457: The new Terminal 3 (with a different design than the one proposed by Infraero), the widening of the main runway in order to enable operations by the large Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 , operated by Emirates and Lufthansa respectively, and several other improvements in the existing terminals and parking area. Terminal 3 is open and all Star Alliance airlines are in, as well as many other overseas carriers. International flights by LATAM also use
4389-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which
4466-468: The requirement for a shuttle bus, has attracted criticism to the São Paulo state government, responsible for São Paulo's subway and commuter rail systems, which has been accused of flawed planning and overindulgence with the airport's private concessionaire. To solve this situation, Governor João Doria and State Secretary of Metropolitan Transports Alexandre Baldy proposed a people mover to connect
4543-409: The runway at higher speed to allow better efficiency for landing and takeoff traffic. As of 2014, there was an average of 650 takeoff and landing operations per day at the airport. The airport has three passenger terminals, numbered 1, 2, and 3, according to their order along the airport access road when arriving from the city. Terminals 2 and 3 are directly linked by a walkway. The airport also has
4620-506: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than
4697-522: The second busiest airport in Latin America by passenger traffic (41.307.915 in 2023) after Mexico City International Airport , making it one of the fifty busiest on the planet . Guarulhos has slot restrictions, operating with a maximum of 45 operations/hour and being one of the five airports with such restrictions in Brazil (the others are São Paulo-Congonhas , Brasília , Belo Horizonte-Pampulha and Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont ). Since 2012,
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#17327903457294774-497: The second to the fourth position in the Brazilian airline market, flying an aging fleet of Boeing 737s (most of them of the obsolete −200 series) and Airbus A300s . The company faced its worst crisis in 2004 as new airlines such rise in the country, which led to the suspension of service to many Brazilian cities and the cancellation of flights. As a result, the airline had its domestic market share reduced to 10%. On 27 January 2005, Brazil's then civil aviation regulator, DAC, grounded
4851-466: The shopping center and other enterprises. This plane has been the scene of several events and was even used during a political propaganda by the Workers' Party - PT in 2022. It was also in evidence because of a girl who filled it with World Cup stickers. Despite the political and football art, and now graffiti, the plane itself was not painted, but gained a cover around it, which receives the art related to
4928-515: The situation of its airports, on May 18, 2011, Infraero released a list evaluating some of its most important airports according to its saturation levels. According to the list, Guarulhos was considered to be critically saturated, operating above 85% of its capacity. Following a decision made on April 26, 2011 by the Federal Government for private companies being granted concessions to explore some Infraero airports, on February 6, 2012,
5005-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in
5082-515: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given
5159-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice
5236-576: The worst of VASP's troubles, its maintenance expertise and personnel had always been held in high regard. It had been operating under the new Brazilian bankruptcy law since July 2006, and had its recovery plan approved on 27 August 2006. However, in 2008 it declared bankruptcy. As of October 2020, nine of the company's planes (seven Boeing 737-200s and two Airbus A300s ) are still grounded at Congonhas-São Paulo Airport since 2005 and by now badly weathered and dilapidated, began to be dismantled and sold for scrap at auction. Each plane in its current condition
5313-556: Was a direct response to the competition imposed by Real Transportes Aéreos . The idea, baptized as Air Bridge ( Ponte Aérea in Portuguese), was inspired by the Berlin Airlift . It was so successful that it was abandoned only in 1999. Flights operated on an hourly basis initially by Convair 240 (Varig), Convair 340 (Cruzeiro) and Saab 90 Scandia (VASP). In a matter of a few months, the shuttle service led by Varig won
5390-474: Was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo , Brazil. It had main bases at São Paulo's two major airports, São Paulo–Congonhas Airport (CGH) and São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport (GRU). The airline was established on 4 November 1933 by the state government of São Paulo and started operations on 12 November 1933. VASP
5467-471: Was announced that Brazilian firm Aerom, which owns the Aeromovel technology, had been selected to install the system. Construction was due to begin in January 2021 with completing in 2022. In June 2021 it was announced that the project had 'advanced' but a schedule for construction had not been finalised. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it
5544-596: Was being plagued by inefficiency, losses covered by state capital injections, and a bloated payroll for political reasons. Under the Brazilian government's neoliberal policies newly introduced at the time, VASP was privatized in 1990. A majority stake was bought by the VOE/Canhedo Group, a company formed by the Canhedo Group of Brasília and VASP employees. Under the command of its new owner and president, Wagner Canhedo, VASP quickly expanded operations in
5621-672: Was estimated to be worth only 30,000 to 50,000 real (approximately $ 20,000 to 33,000 US dollars), considerably less than even its monthly parking and storage fees. The company's fleet of 27 planes had been also grounded in similar circumstances since 2005 at various Brazilian airports. VASP operated services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (as of January 2005): Aracaju , Belém , Brasília , Curitiba , Fortaleza , Foz do Iguaçu , Maceió , Manaus , Natal , Recife , Rio de Janeiro–Galeão , Rio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont , Salvador , São Luís , São Paulo–Congonhas , São Paulo–Guarulhos , Teresina and Porto Alegre . VASP once had
5698-473: Was named one of the best airports in the world by AirHelp . On June 6, 1967, in response to the growth of air traffic in Brazil, the Brazilian military government initiated studies concerning the renovation of the airport infrastructure in Brazil. As part of the conclusions of these studies, because of their location, strategic importance, and security issues, new passenger facilities would be constructed in
5775-491: Was opened in June 2013. Contrary to what had been announced before, the new terminal will be permanent. Webjet was the first airline to use the new facility. The new terminal, in its first phase, increased the capacity of the airport in 5.5 million passengers/year and, in the second phase to 8 million passengers/year. In total, Guarulhos would then be able to handle 28.5 million passengers/year. Responding to critiques to
5852-415: Was opened initially on a trial phase and operates only on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with trains every 30 minutes to the suburban station of Engenheiro Goulart in eastern São Paulo city, from where a further connection with CPTM's line 12 and at least another one by subway will be necessary to reach downtown and the main business areas. Service will be expanded in May 2018 to seven days
5929-481: Was the first airline to serve the interior of the state of São Paulo ( São Paulo - São Carlos - São José do Rio Preto and São Paulo - Ribeirão Preto - Uberaba ), with two Monospar ST-4 . At the start of the 1930s, it was the only carrier to operate with land planes in their service area. At the time this was a real exploit due to the lack of adequate non-coastal airports. Many landing strips were improvised in flat pastures. This insistence on using only land planes led to
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