Campo de Marte Airport is the first airport built in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil, opened in 1929. It is named after

Champ de Mars Champ, CHAMP or The Champ may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Champ (cartoon character), an animated dog introduced in 1960 * The Champ, played on radio and created by Jake Edwards (radio personality), Jake Edwards * Champ ...

, in Paris, which in turn got its name from

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for 'Field of Mars'; Italian: ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The airport is operated by Pax Aeroportos.

History

Campo de Marte was the first airport built in

, officially opened on July 26, 1929. The airport was bombarded during the 1932

Constitutionalist Revolution The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 (sometimes also referred to as Paulista War or Brazilian Civil War) is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 wh ...

. On 12 November 1933 a ceremony marking the start-up of scheduled flights of

VASP Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A (São Paulo Airways), better known as VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of São Paulo–Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. It had main bases at São Paulo's two m ...

took place at the airport. The first two routes linked Campo de Marte to São Carlos and São José do Rio Preto, and to Ribeirão Preto and Uberaba. It handled all air operations in São Paulo until VASP opened Congonhas Airport in 1936. VASP considered it a necessary move because of unexpected growing demands, and to avoid a problem of constant flooding by the adjoining

Tietê River The Tietê River ( ) is a Brazilian river in the state of São Paulo. The first known use of the name Tietê was on a map published in 1748 by d’Anville. The name means "truthful river", or "truthful waters”, in Tupi. The Tietê River i ...

, particularly the one that happened in 1929. São Paulo Air Force Base was created on 22 May 1941 by Decree 3,302 at Campo de Marte Airport. On 26 January 1945 the base at Campo de Marte was decommissioned and transferred to its present location, then called Cumbica Farm at

Guarulhos Guarulhos () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, the List of largest cities in Brazil, 13th most populous city in ...

. Presently it houses the São Paulo

Flying club A flying club or aero club is a non-profit organization, not-for-profit, member-run organization that provides its members with affordable access to aircraft. Many clubs also provide flight training, flight planning facilities, pilot supplies and ...

, founded in 1931,

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

s and general aviation services. It has limited night operations capability, usually reserved to helicopters. The 4th command of the

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

is also located on the premises. On 11 May 2007,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

canonized the first Brazilian-born saint,

Frei Galvão Anthony of St. Ann Galvão, Order of Friars Minor, O.F.M. (Portuguese: Antônio de Sant'Anna Galvão; 13 May 1739 – 23 December 1822), more commonly known as Frei Galvão, was a Brazilian people, Brazilian friar of the Order of Friars Minor, Fr ...

, during a mass on the site. An agreement to establish an aerospace museum at the airport was signed in 2017. Previously operated by

Infraero Empresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária (abr. Infraero) is a Brazilian government corporation founded in 1973, authorized by Law 5,862, that is responsible for operating the main List of the busiest airports in Brazil, Brazilian com ...

, on August 18, 2022 Pax Aeroportos controlled by XP Inc. won a 30-year concession to operate the airport.

Airlines and destinations

No scheduled flights operate at this airport.

Statistics

Following is the number of passenger, aircraft and cargo movements at the airport, according to

(2007-August 31, 2023) and Pax (2024) reports: Note:
: Neither Infraero or Pax Airports have informed statistics for September 1 to December 31, 2023.

Accidents and incidents

*4 November 2007: an Air Taxi

Learjet 35A The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of United States, American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet between 1973 and 1993. When used by the United States Air Force, they carry the designatio ...

registration PT-OVC crashed over a house in a residential area nearby after a failed takeoff attempt from Campo de Marte, killing the pilot, co-pilot, and 6 people on the ground. *19 March 2016: a private

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

, model Comp Air 9 registration PR-ZRA crashed into one house in the neighborhood of Casa Verde, about one mile after takeoff, killing 7 people on board and injuring one resident. Among the victims were entrepreneur Roger Agnelli and his family. *7 February 2025: a private Beechcraft F90 King Air registration PS-FEM crashed shortly after takeoff.The aircraft came down on Avenida Marquês de São Vicente, Barra Funda, São Paulo, and burst into flames as it skidded down the road after hitting a bus. Both occupants perished and the aircraft was destroyed. Also six people on the ground were injured.

Access

The airport is located from downtown São Paulo in the district of

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Campo Marte Airport Airports in São Paulo Airports established in 1929 1929 establishments in Brazil