Brazil, Tom Jobim International Airport

Tom Jobim International Airport is the main international gateway to Rio de Janeiro. It handled 13.5 million passengers in 2019.

Situated on an island linked by a highway and a bus rapid transit line to the mainland, the airport is 20km from downtown. It currently has two cross runways and two passenger terminals with the capacity to accommodate up to 30 million passengers per annum (mppa).

In November 2013, a consortium led by Changi Airports International (CAI) was awarded the rights to the concession for the expansion, maintenance and development of the airport.

An agreement was signed in April 2014 for Concessionaria Aeroporto Rio de Janeiro S/A (CARJ) to take over the airport’s operations from August the same year.

For the next 25 years, CARJ (rebranded as RIOgaleão), will be responsible for the expansion, operation and maintenance of Tom Jobim International Airport.

RIOgaleão has since rolled out a series of operations and service enhancements including new customer service counters, travellators and escalators, and landscaping to liven up the terminals. There are also over 100 new retail and F&B outlets and an expanded 8,000 sqm of duty free shopping in Terminal 2.

RIOgaleão has also secured long term commercial contracts with strategic partners such as Dufry and JCDecaux. Plans are underway to build a new landside hotel with more than 300 rooms.

A new concourse with 26 gates served by boarding bridges, was inaugurated in May 2016. With it, passenger capacity of the airport increased by 87.5%, from 20 to 37.5 mppa.

In August 2016, the airport was the host airport for the 2016 Olympic Games. It handled up to a record 85, 000 departing passengers a day, twice the number on normal days. Travellers and media sang praises of the airport operations, which were described as “seamless, magical and unforgettable”. The airport also registered record numbers in retail stores and restaurants during the period.

CAI holds a 51 percent stake in RIOgaleão, and Infraero, 49 percent.

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