| Galeão Air Force Base | |
| Native Name: | Portuguese: Base Aérea do Galeão|italic=yes |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Type: | Air Force Base |
| Coordinates: | -22.81°N -43.2506°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Brazil Rio de Janeiro#Brazil Rio de Janeiro State#Brazil |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Brazil |
| Pushpin Label: | SBGL |
| Ownership: | Brazilian Air Force |
| Open To Public: | No |
| Code: | ALA11 |
| Current Commander: | Cel. Av. Renato Alves de Oliveira |
| Occupants: |
|
| Iata: | GIG |
| Icao: | SBGL |
| Lid: | RJ0001 |
| Elevation: | 9m (30feet) |
| R1-Number: | 10/28 |
| R1-Length: | 4000m (13,000feet) |
| R1-Surface: | Concrete |
| R2-Number: | 15/33 |
| R2-Length: | 3180m (10,430feet) |
| R2-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Footnotes: | Source: DECEA[1] |
Galeão Air Force Base – ALA11 is a base of the Brazilian Air Force located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after nearby Praia do Galeão (Galleon Beach), where in 1663 the galleon Padre Eterno was built.
It shares some facilities with Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport.
The history of the Base begins on 10 May 1923 when a School of Naval Aviation was established near Galeão beach. On 22 May 1941 with the creation of the Air Force Ministry in Brazil, the school became the Galeão Air Force Base and a terminal and hangars were built at the location and the runway extended. Those buildings still exist.[2] When Brazil declared war against the Axis on 22 August 1942, the aerodrome began to be intensively used by the Allies for military operations related to the World War II.[3]
With the end of the war, the increase of tonnage of aircraft flying on international routes and number of passengers, and being Santos Dumont Airport unable to handle all the traffic international flights gradually shifted to the site of the Air Force Base. Although it informally handled long-haul international traffic, services were however precarious and a decision was made to build a brand new passenger terminal, opposite the Air Force Base, across the runway. On 1 February 1952 the passenger terminal was opened and public and military services were separated.
After the completion of a new passenger terminal in 1977, the original public facility became the passenger terminal for passenger flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force. Since then it is informally known as Terminal do Correio Aéreo Nacional (Brazilian Air Force Passenger Services Terminal).
The following units are based at Galeão Air Force Base:
| Aircraft | Model | Air unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Embraer KC-390 | 1st Squadron of the 1st Transportation Group (1°/1°GT) Gordo[4] [5] | ||
| Lockheed C-130 Hercules | |||
| Embraer C-99 A | 2nd Squadron of the 1st Transportation Group (1°/2°GT) Condor[6] [7] | ||
| Embraer C-97 Brasília | |||
| Airbus KC-30 | 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Transportation Group (2°/2°GT) Corsário[8] | ||
| Embraer C-95 B & BM Bandeirante | 3rd Squadron of Air Transportation (3°ETA) Pioneiro[9] |
The base is located 20 km from Rio de Janeiro downtown in the district of Governador Island.