Rio de Janeiro Antonio Carlos Jobim Airport, popularly known by its original name Galeão Airport, is the main airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the country’s third-busiest international airport (more than 17 million passengers in 2017). It is named after Praia do Galeão, located in front of the original passenger terminal and since 1999 also after the Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim. The airport is a hub for Gol Airlines.
The history of the airport begins in 1923 when a School of Naval Aviation was established near Galeão beach. In 1941 the school became the Galeão Air Force Base. At the end of World War II, Santos Dumont Airport was unable to handle the increased tonnage of aircraft flying on international routes and number of passengers. For this reason, international flights were gradually moved to the site of the Air Force Base.
Source: Wikipedia
