Viracopos Airport

Viracopos/Campinas International Airport Aeroporto Internacional de Viracopos/Campinas
IATA: VCP ICAO: SBKP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Aeroportos Brasil
Serves	Campinas
Hub for	Azul Brazilian Airlines
Elevation AMSL	661 m / 2,170 ft
Coordinates	23°00′25″S 047°08′04″W / 23.00694°S 47.13444°W / -23.00694; -47.13444Coordinates: 23°00′25″S 047°08′04″W / 23.00694°S 47.13444°W / -23.00694; -47.13444
Website	www.viracopos.com
Map
VCP Location in Brazil
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 15/33 3,240 10,630 Asphalt
Statistics (2016)
Passengers 9,325,252 9.7% Aircraft Operations 115,276 9.5% Metric tonnes of cargo 164,429 7.3%
Statistics: Viracopos Aeroportos Brasil Sources: Airport Website,ANAC

Passengers	9,325,252 9.7%
Aircraft Operations	115,276 9.5%
Metric tonnes of cargo	164,429 7.3%

Viracopos/Campinas International Airport (IATA: VCP, ICAO: SBKP) (sometimes referred to as São Paulo/Campinas) is an international airport serving Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil. On 6 January 1987, the airport name was officially normalized to its present form. It is named after the neighborhood where it is located.

It is operated by Aeroportos Brasil Viracopos.

The IATA airport code of Viracopos is VCP and the specific city code of Campinas is CPQ. Sometimes both codes are used as one although there is a distinction between them in airline reservation systems: VCP, together with CGH (Congonhas) and GRU (Guarulhos), is part of the multiple airport system set around the city of São Paulo (code SAO). An airline that files services with the code VCP has flights displayed when passengers or travel agents request service from São Paulo, whereas flights filed with the code CPQ are displayed as service from Campinas, not São Paulo. A similar example is New York City (NYC), in which the airport codes LGA (LaGuardia Airport), JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport), and EWR (Newark Liberty International Airport) are used for the same city, although the latter is located in a different city and state.

There are two versions of the origin of the name Viracopos, which means "turn (or overturn) glasses" in Portuguese and can be metaphorically understood as drinking a large amount of an alcoholic beverage at once. According to the first version, in the beginning of the 20th century, during an annual fair, there was a misunderstanding between the parish priest and the residents of the neighborhood. This resulted in excessive drinking and quarrels, in which the festival booths were torn down, or overturned, during the confusion. The name "Viracopos" was later used by the priest in sermons to refer to the event. Another version says that, on the site of the present airport, previously there had been a bar where herders had regularly met to exchange views and drink ("turn glasses"). So "Viracopos" was first the name of the district and later of the airport.