A bit of history
A sleeping giant! That way we could talk about Confins while all the concentration of flights was at Pampulha Airport, until the end of 2004. That year, 388 thousand passengers embarked and disembarked in Confins against almost 9 million and 400 thousand in 2011.
The construction of the Belo Horizonte International Airport (Confins), located in the municipalities of Confins and Lagoa Santa, was born out of unavoidable contingencies for air transport in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte/MG. In the early 1970s, with the technological advancement of the aeronautical industry, placing sophisticated passenger and cargo aircraft in the skies, it became clear that the existing airport infrastructure would not support the demand in the following years, and in 1980 work began on the new airport. by the Andrade Gutierrez – Mendes Júnior consortium.
Despite being inaugurated in March 1984, Belo Horizonte International Airport (Confins) received its first commercial flight on November 10, 1982, through VASP, on a flight from Congonhas. On January 2, 1984, VASP inaugurated its regular flights, with the landing of a Boeing 737-200 (PP-SMA), coming from São Luís.
The following year, on March 25, a Varig Boeing 707 landed in Confins bringing 35 tons of cargo from Rome, Italy. Regular flights started to be operated in 1984, with VASP connecting Confins – Brasília, with a Boeing 737-200. In July, Varig made its first international flight from Confins to Miami, in the United States.
In 1990, LAB – Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano started to operate regularly at the airport with flights to Santa Cruz de la Sierra and in 1993 it was Pluna’s turn, from Uruguay, to establish a flight to Montevideo.
In 1994, American Airlines started to fly from Miami to Confins, via Guarulhos. A year later, it was United Airlines’ turn to connect the airport to Miami non-stop.
United Airlines Boeing 767-200 in September 1995
In 2000 it was established that domestic flights from Pampulha were transferred to Confins and the movement at the airport grew absurdly. In 2006, Gol inaugurated the company’s Maintenance Center at the airport, capable of carrying out all types of aircraft checks in the company’s fleet.
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In 2008, two new international companies began operating at the airport, Copa Airlines, with flights to Panama, and TAP, with flights to Lisbon. In 2013 it was Aerolineas Argentinas’ turn to start operating at the aerodrome and in 2014 the airport was put out to tender, with the AeroBrasil consortium (CCR Group, Munich Airport and Zurich Airport) as the big winner. On April 7 of that year, BH Airport was born, a concessionaire formed by the CCR Group, Infraero and Zurich Airport, to explore the airport’s services for 30 years.
BH Airport, concessionaire of Belo Horizonte International Airport, is a Special Purpose Entity (SPE) formed by the CCR Group, one of the largest infrastructure concession companies in Latin America, and by Zurich Airport, operator of Zurich Airport, the main air hub in Switzerland and considered one of the best airports in the world, in addition to Infraero, a state-owned company with more than 40 years of experience in managing airports in Brazil.
In 2015, all of the airport’s international flights began operating at Terminal 3 and, as a result, work began on Terminal 2 to expand its operating capacity to 22 million passengers a year, a work completed on December 6, 2016. installed in an area of 132 thousand square meters and has 26 boarding bridges. Its runway is 3,000m long and 45m wide and is served by Azul, Avianca Brasil, Latam Brasil, Gol, Sideral, Latam Brasil Cargo (Absa), American Airlines, Copa Airlines and TAP Air Portugal.
In August 2019, Belo Horizonte International Airport opened two VIP lounges, one for domestic departures and another for international departures.
The only international airport in Minas Gerais, strategically located and one of the main hubs in the country, serving around 50 national and international destinations. Since 2014, the terminal has been managed by a concession, formed by the CCR Group, one of the largest infrastructure concession companies in Latin America, and by Zurich Airport, operator of Zurich Airport, the main air hub in Switzerland and considered one of the best airports in the world, in addition to Infraero, a state-owned company with more than 40 years of experience in managing airports in Brazil.
In order to offer customers the best airport experience, Passenger Terminal 1 underwent renovations throughout the year and the first phase of the work, which required resources in the order of R$ 100 million, was delivered on December 14, 2021. passengers have a new centralized inspection channel, as well as the opening of gates 3, 4, 5 and 6.
The renovation was intended to bring more comfort and convenience to people, as well as expand the commercial areas by 100%. Built over 30 years ago, Passenger Terminal 1’s architecture and aesthetics are marked by concrete. With the renovation and modernization project, the intention is to harmoniously compose the existing areas with new materials and textures and also bring all the culture of Minas Gerais to the airfield”, explains BH Airport’s Director of Operations and Infrastructure, Herlichy Bastos.
Today, the airport has 26 boarding bridges divided between passenger terminals 1 and 2. From gates 1 to 16, all are part of Passenger Terminal 1. From 17 onwards, they make up Passenger Terminal 2. modern, it was completed in 2016 and offers comfort and convenience to passengers.
In 2022, BH Airport received, for the second consecutive year, the Green Airport Recognition during the Annual Assembly Conference & Exhibition ACI-LAC 2022, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The refurbishment of the Cold Water Plant was highlighted during the event and also received an honorable mention as a sustainable project in the areas of Energy Efficiency, Water Reuse and Maintenance Cost.
The airport also received the renewal of its carbon emissions reduction accreditation, at level 2, by the Airport Council International (ACI) program. This was the third time that the terminal received certification for meeting all the necessary requirements for reducing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, which increased from 2,480 tons in the first year of participation in the program, in 2017, to 584.6 tons in 2021.
This year, BH Airport also launched the Innovation Center project, which should be inaugurated in 2023, on the second floor of the airport. The idea is to bring together partner companies to promote innovation jointly and collaboratively, consolidating the smart airport concept in the terminal. “From global giants to small-scale terminals, innovation is the fuel that drives, transforms and connects smart airports to the future.
For 2023, the airport projects the resumption of the movement of people and aircraft to pre-pandemic levels. With the end of the second phase of the works, new brands will also become part of the store mix, which will be reflected in the diversification of products and services for passengers, visitors and the entire airport community. The expectation is to also increase the services of the Multimodal Logistic Hub and the Industrial Airport.
The OTP Performance Awards, a report on the punctuality of airports and airlines, published by Cirium, a company specializing in aviation data, recognized BH Airport as the sixth most punctual in the world in 2022, in the category of medium scale airports. In the world ranking, BH Airport represents Brazil with an OTP (On-Time Performance) of 87.93%, followed by Guararapes – Gilberto Freyre International Airport, in fourth place, with an OTP of 88.95%.
In 2022, BH Airport closed the year with the movement of around 10 million passengers – an index that represents 90% of the movement achieved in 2019. In 2021, the movement reached 7 million passengers. The goal for 2023 is to recover 100% of pre-pandemic levels. At that time, the BH Airport network offered connections to 45 destinations. Today, 62 destinations strengthen one of the main hubs in the country.
Recently, on the last March 26, 2023, the aerodrome inaugurated the unprecedented and non-stop route to Bogotá, operated by Avianca, with a frequency of five weekly flights, in three times. The direct connection to Colombia integrates the six international destinations at BH Airport, which now operates triple the number of flights compared to last year. Tickets to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, in the United States, are already on sale – new operations by Azul Linhas Aéreas, departing from BH Airport, which also include the unprecedented destination of Curaçao.
On domestic flights, the destination for Parnaíba, in Piauí, was inaugurated in March, contemplating the Route of Emotions, a circuit that passes through the main tourist points of the coast of Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão. In February, the novelty was the operation of the new route to Palmas, an opportunity to discover the exuberant nature of Tocantins, such as the Jalapão State Park. As part of the domestic expansion of the airline network, BH Airport resumed flights to Lençóis (BA) and announced new routes to Aracaju (SE), Caldas Novas (GO), Navegantes (SC) and Santarém (PA). For the interior of Minas, destination options for the cities of Juiz de Fora, Paracatu, Patos de Minas, Teófilo Otoni, Varginha, Araxá and São João del Rei.
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