Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Fernando de Noronha Airport sits on the remote Atlantic island of the same name, off the coast of Pernambuco, and is the easternmost airport in Brazil. A single hard-surfaced runway serves both scheduled airline flights and the occasional visiting general aviation aircraft, set against a dramatic oceanic backdrop far from the mainland.
Fernando de Noronha Airport, also known as Gov. Carlos Wilson Airport, serves the island of Fernando de Noronha, the largest island in the Brazilian archipelago of the same name. It is the easternmost airport in Brazil and the only aerodrome located in the country's oceanic islands, making it a genuinely remote and distinctive destination for a simulator pilot. The field has a long aviation history stretching back to the 1930s and played a role in transatlantic air routes during the Second World War, and it remains the sole air link for the island's population and visitors today.
The airport lies on Fernando de Noronha island, in Brazilian territorial waters some 545 km from Recife and 360 km from Natal, on the mainland coast of Pernambuco state. It is situated about 4 km from Vila dos Remedios, the administrative centre of the island. Given its isolated oceanic position, the airport has no nearby competing aerodromes and operates within its own island airspace over open Atlantic water.
The airport has a single physical runway, 12/30, measuring 6,013 feet in length with a hard surface and runway lighting. There is no ILS approach available. Field elevation is 171 feet.
The airport is served by an Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS) rather than full air traffic control, operating on 125.9 MHz under the callsign NORONHA RDO. No ILS is available, so pilots should expect visual or non-precision arrival procedures.
The first runway at Fernando de Noronha was built in 1934. In 1942, during the Second World War, the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command extended the runway and built a passenger terminal under the Airport Development Program, supporting the Natal-Dakar air route that linked Brazil with French West Africa for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. Administration of the airport passed to the United States Navy on 5 September 1944, before reverting to the Brazilian government after the war. A further runway extension in 1975 allowed operations by aircraft up to the class of a Boeing 737, and the present passenger terminal opened in March 1999. Following the loss of Air France Flight 447 on 1 June 2009, which disappeared over the Atlantic roughly 550 km northeast of the island, the airport served as a base for search and rescue operations. From October 2022, jet aircraft operations were suspended indefinitely by Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency because of the runway's need for repairs, while turboprop operations continued unaffected.
Fernando de Noronha Airport continues to provide the island's principal air link, with scheduled services connecting to Recife and Sao Paulo-Guarulhos. Following the 2022 suspension of jet operations due to runway condition, airlines serving the island adjusted their fleets, with turboprop aircraft such as the ATR 72-600 taking over routes previously flown by jets. The airport is operated by Dix Empreendimentos.