Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply Porto Airport (formerly ''Pedras Rubras Airport'') is an
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
near Porto (Oporto), Portugal. It is located northwest of the Clérigos Tower in the centre of Porto, in the municipalities of Maia,
Matosinhos
Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal () is a city and a municipality in the northern Porto district of Portugal, bordered in the south by the city of Porto (8 km from the city centre). The population in 2011 was 175,478, and covered an area of approx ...
ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal
ANA Aeroportos de Portugal is the airport authority of Portugal. The authority manages various airports including Portugal's largest airport, Lisbon Airport. The authority has its head office in Building 120 on the grounds of the airport.
History ...
. The airport is currently the second-busiest in the country, based on aircraft operations; and the second-busiest in passengers, based on Aeroportos de Portugal traffic statistics, after
Lisbon Airport
Humberto Delgado Airport , informally Lisbon Airport and formally Portela Airport, is an international airport located northeast of the city centre of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The airport is the main international gateway to Portugal. ...
and before
Faro Airport
Faro Airport ( pt, Aeroporto de Faro, ), officially Gago Coutinho Airport (''Aeroporto Gago Coutinho''), is located westAI of Faro in Portugal. The airport opened in July 1965 being the main gateway to the year-round resort region of the Al ...
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
The airport is surrounded by the municipalities of
Matosinhos
Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal () is a city and a municipality in the northern Porto district of Portugal, bordered in the south by the city of Porto (8 km from the city centre). The population in 2011 was 175,478, and covered an area of approx ...
(to the south and west) and Vila do Conde (to the north) and Maia (to the east). It covers the parishes of Santa Cruz do Bispo, Perafita and Lavra (in Matosinhos); Aveleda and Vilar do Pinheiro (Vila do Conde); and Vila Nova da Telha and
Moreira
Moreira may refer to:
Places
* Moreira (Maia), a parish in Maia Municipality, northern Portugal
* , a parish in Monção Municipality, northern Portugal
* , a parish in Nelas Municipality, central Portugal
People
*Moreira (name), given name ...
(Maia).ANA (January 2007), p. 1 It includes an area of between in the extreme south and in the north. The southern portion of the airport intersects the hydrographic watershed of the Leça River, while the north is crossed by effluents of Onda River.
History
The airport around Porto opened in 1945 and was initially known as ''Pedras Rubras Airport'', after the name for the locality where the airport is located:
Pedras Rubras
Pedras Rubras (Portuguese for ''Reddish stones'') is a Portuguese locality and suburb in the Moreira parish, in the Maia Municipality of the Greater Porto subregion. The Porto Airport (OPO) (Sá Carneiro International Airport
Francisco Sá Carn ...
("red rocks"). It is still known by this name in the region. The land on which the airport was built was originally agricultural, characterised by rich soils that permitted the cultivation of various cereals.
It was renamed in 1990 after former Portuguese prime minister, Francisco de Sá Carneiro, who died in a plane crash when he was traveling to this airport on 4 December 1980.
Along with the airports in Lisbon, Faro, Ponta Delgada, Santa Maria, Horta, Flores, Madeira, and Porto Santo, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation were conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98. With this concession, ANA became responsible for the planning, development and construction of future infrastructure.
A new terminal building, designed by Portuguese firm ICQ, was built between 2003 and 2006, and became operational in the last quarter of 2006.
Porto Airport reached ten million passenger per year for the first time on 6 December 2017.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
The following airlines operate regular scheduled direct passenger flights at Porto Airport:
Cargo
Statistics
Ground transport
Besides taxi services and the road link, there are several public transportation links available:
Metro
The airport is served by Line E of the Porto Metro. The station has three platforms and the trains leave the arrival platform and reverse into one of the departure platforms.
The service links the airport to Porto city center and by transfer in ''Trindade'' station to high-speed trains at
Campanhã
Campanhã () is a Portuguese ''freguesia'' ("civil parish"), located in the city of Porto. The population in 2011 was 32,659,Póvoa de Varzim (using line B), ''Fonte do Cuco'' station to Maia (line C), ''Senhora da Hora'' station to Matosinhos (line A), and ''Trindade'' station to V.N.Gaia (line D) and to Rio Tinto/Fânzeres (line F).
Car
Sá Carneiro airport is accessible via the A41 and A28 motorways, but also the EN13 highway (using the EN107 accessway). These roadways lead to drop-off and pick-up areas and short and long-stay car parks. It can also be reached by the A4 motorway through the VRI accessway.
Bus
STCP buses also link the airport and the city. There is also a bus that operates all night from Porto city centre to the airport. Also there is a bus service to/from Vigo (
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
/Spain) twice a day on weekdays, and once a day during the weekend.
Shuttle
The GetBUS shuttle provides 50 min direct connections to the towns of Braga and Guimarães.
Further proposals
The proposed Porto–Vigo high-speed rail line would be built via the airport.
Accolades
Airports Council International Airport Service Quality Awards voted the airport ''Best Airport in Europe'' in 2007. Additionally, it has placed in the top three of ''Best Airport in Europe'' a further nine times – winning second place in 2010, and third place in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Accidents and incidents
*On April 27, 2021 a
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
cargo jet was cleared for takeoff while a ground vehicle was on the runway, coming within four seconds of collision before taking off over it. The
incursion
''Incursion'' is a science fiction roleplaying game created by Richard Tucholka and published by Tri Tac Games in 1992.
Overview
The player characters are humans abducted by alien slave traders. Together, with other extraterrestrial slaves, ...
a "serious incident" and initiated a safety investigation. YouTube channel 'VASAviation' has a recorded instance of the communications between Porto's Tower and the aircraft involved, FedEx Contractor Flight 'Quality 4959' Archived a Ghostarchive and th Wayback Machine
See also
*
Transport in Portugal
Transport in Portugal is well-developed and diversified. Portugal has a network of roads, of which almost are part of a 44 motorways system. Brisa is the largest highway management concessionaire. With 89,015 km2, Continental Portugal has ...
*
List of airports in Portugal
This is a list of airports in Portugal (including Azores and Madeira), sorted by location.
List
Notes:
* The location is the municipality ('' município'' or ''concelho'') which in a few instances is preceded by the parish (''freguesia'').
* The ...