Paulo Ricardo Scenery Designer has recently released their rendition of São Paulo - Deputado Freitas Nobre Airport (SBSP) for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the second busiest airport in Brazil with a yearly average of 18 million passengers.

Although initially planned in 1919, it only opened in 1936, with a 300-meter-long dirt runway, serving as an alternate airport to Campo de Marte, São Paulo’s first airport. Commercial service began that year with a flight to Rio de Janeiro, served by VASP.

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Twenty years later, Congonhas was the third busiest airport in the world for air cargo while also serving all international flights to and from São Paulo, as the runways were long enough to accommodate the aircraft from that time period, which was no longer the case in the 60s and 70s, with the advent of passenger jet aircraft, which led airlines to look for an alternative (Viracopos Airport, in Campinas).

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The late 50s marked the creation of the famous air shuttle between Congonhas and Rio de Janeiro (SBRJ), with regular departures every half-hour. It used to be an agreement between three airlines (VASP, Varig, and Cruzeiro do Sul), with Transbrasil joining the partnership in 1968. The deal was dissolved in 1999 after airlines decided to operate their shuttle flights independently.

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It was São Paulo’s main airport until 1985 when Guarulhos Airport was officially opened, and restrictions were imposed to limit CGH’s daily flights. Even with all the restrictions, Congonhas still manages to be the most popular domestic airport in the city because of its convenience (Congonhas is closer to the city’s heart).

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The airport lost its international category in 2008 after multiple restrictions were imposed regarding aircraft size, landing weight, etc. The Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737-800 are the largest aircraft allowed to operate in Congonhas, while it had previously dealt with DC-8s, 767s, and A300s. Accidents such as the TAM Airlines Flight 3054 (17/07/2007) made it more restrictive.

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AENA has recently won a 30-year concession to operate the airport, which had been previously owned and operated by Infraero, a government-owned company.

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It’s currently served by Azul Brazilian Airlines, Azul Conecta, GOL Transportes Aéreos, LATAM Brasil, and Voepass Linhas Aéreas.

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The scenery features an accurate rendition of the airport, with custom ground textures, custom jetways, true-to-life landside, multiple city landmarks, a detailed terminal interior, custom ground clutter, custom weathering, and more.

It’s available on the MSFS Marketplace for $16.99, requiring at least 5.8 GB of free hard disk space to install.
Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

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