Brasília International Airport

Brasília–Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport Aeroporto Internacional de Brasília–Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek
IATA: BSB ICAO: SBBR
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Operator
Serves	Brasília
Hub for	Avianca Brazil Gol Airlines LATAM Brasil
Elevation AMSL	1,066 m / 3,497 ft
Coordinates	15°52′09″S 047°55′15″W / 15.86917°S 47.92083°W / -15.86917; -47.92083Coordinates: 15°52′09″S 047°55′15″W / 15.86917°S 47.92083°W / -15.86917; -47.92083
Website	www.bsb.aero
Map
BSB Location in Brasília
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11R/29L 3,300 10,827 Asphalt 11L/29R 3,200 10,499 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 19,821,796 Aircraft Operations 186,377 Metric tonnes of cargo 39,467
Statistics: Aeroporto de Brasília Sources: Airport Website,ANAC

Brasília–Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport (IATA: BSB, ICAO: SBBR) is the airport serving Brasília, Brazil. Since 22 April 1999 the airport is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (1902–1976), the 21st President of Brazil. It is located in the Lago Sul administrative region of the Federal District of Brazil. Some of its facilities are shared with the Brazilian Air Force. It is operated by Inframerica

Brasília was only a project when in 1956 President Juscelino Kubitschek landed for the first time in the Central Plateau. However, Vera Cruz Airport, built in 1955 by the then Deputy-Governor of Goiás, Bernardo Sayão, at the request of the chairman of the location of the New Federal Capital, Marechal José Pessoa, already existed. On 2 October 1955, the airport received the first crew of workers that would build the new capital. This facility was located where today is the Integrated Bus and Train Terminal of Brasília. It had a dirt runway of 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) and a passenger terminal in a makeshift, cob-wall shack covered with buriti-leaves.

This facility, however, was only temporary. The relocation to a definitive site had already been identified as a priority and construction works started on 6 November 1956. The works lasted for only over six months and required the clearing of an area of 1,334 million square metres (14,360×10^⁶ sq ft), 178,500 square metres (1,921,000 sq ft) of earthwork, base-stabilized 40,900 square metres (440,000 sq ft), covering 73,500 square metres (791,000 sq ft), topographical services, positioning and leveling. The runway was designed to have a length of 3,300 metres (10,800 ft) but initially it had only 324 metres (1,063 ft), and was 45 metres (148 ft) wide. The passenger terminal was built of wood. On 2 April 1957, the presidential aircraft landed for the first time at the site and the official inauguration took place on 3 May 1957. That year, on the same location the was also commissioned.