Ponta Pelada Airport was the main airport of

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Brazil, until 1976. Between 1970 and 1976, the facilities were shared with

Manaus Air Force Base Manaus Air Force Base – ALA8 is a base of the Brazilian Air Force, located in Manaus, Brazil. History The base was created in 1970 and between 1970 and 1976 public facilities of Ponta Pelada Airport were shared with the military facilitie ...

of the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

. On March 31, 1976, all civilian operations were transferred to the newer

Eduardo Gomes International Airport Manaus International Airport – Eduardo Gomes is the airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshal Eduardo Gomes (1896–1981). It is operated by Vinci Airports History Manaus In ...

. During this transition, Ponta Pelada Airport was renamed

handling military operations exclusively under the control of the Brazilian Air Force.

History

The following airlines once served the airport: Cruzeiro do Sul,

Lóide Aéreo Nacional Lóide Aéreo Nacional S/A was a Brazilian airline founded in 1947 as Transporte Carga Aérea (TCA). It was renamed Lóide Aéreo Nacional in 1949, after it merged with Linhas Aéreas Paulistas (LAP) and Transportes Aéreos Bandeirantes (TABA). ...

Panair do Brasil Panair do Brasil was an airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America. It ceased operations in 1965. History NYRBA do Brasil (1929–1930) ''Panair do Bras ...

, Real Transportes Aéreos,

Transbrasil TransBrasil was a Brazilian airline which ceased operations on 3 December 2001. During most of its history, Transbrasil was owned by local entrepreneur Omar Fontana. Its aircraft usually featured a colorful livery, remarkably with a rainbow on the ...

Varig VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went ...

, VASP.

Accidents and incidents

*24 May 1952: a

Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando registration PP-LDE during take-off from Ponta Pelada Airport stalled when trying to return to the airport following an engine failure. It crashed into the Rio Negro. The 6 occupants died. *14 December 1962: a

Lockheed L-049 Constellation The Lockheed L-049 Constellation was the first model of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. It entered service as the C-69 military transport aircraft during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces and was the first civilian ver ...

registration PP-PDE en route from Belém-Val de Cans to Ponta Pelada Airport crashed in the jungle, during a night approach, due to unknown causes, approximately 45 km from Manaus at the location of Paraná da Eva. All 50 passengers and crew died. *8 October 1969: a Cruzeiro do Sul Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R en route from Belém-Val de Cans to Ponta Pelada Airport was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded to be flown to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

. The hijack lasted less than a day and there were no victims. *12 November 1969: a Cruzeiro do Sul NAMC YS-11/11A en route from Ponta Pelada Airport to Belém-Val de Cans was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to

. There were no victims. *25 April 1970: a VASP Boeing 737-2A1 en route from

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

to Ponta Pelada Airport was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to

. The hijack lasted a day. *14 May 1970: a VASP Boeing 737-2A1 en route from

to Ponta Pelada Airport was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to

. The hijack lasted a day.

Access

The airport is located from downtown Manaus.

References

External links

* * * {{Brazil topics Manaus Defunct airports in Brazil Airports disestablished in 1976 1976 disestablishments in Brazil

History

Accidents and incidents

Access

See also

References

External links