Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Salgado Filho International Airport (SBPA/POA) is the main gateway for Porto Alegre and the state of Rio Grande do Sul, sitting close to the city centre on the southern Brazilian coast. Operated by Fraport Brasil, it offers a single long asphalt runway with full instrument approach capability, making it a straightforward destination for both airliner and general aviation traffic in simulation.
Salgado Filho is the principal airport serving Porto Alegre and the wider metropolitan area of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state. It has grown from a modest air club field in the 1920s into a major international airport handling both domestic and international traffic, and it remains an interesting stop for simulator pilots thanks to its long single runway, full ILS approach and busy mixed traffic pattern typical of a South American regional hub.
The airport lies within the Porto Alegre terminal area on the southern Brazilian coast, close to the city it serves. It sits near Canoas Air Force Base, which has at times been used as a backup facility for Porto Alegre traffic. Approach control is provided under the callsign PALEGRE APP, indicating that arriving and departing traffic is worked by radar-equipped approach control rather than left to self-navigate visually.
The airport has a single physical runway, 11/29, measuring 7434 feet and surfaced in hard asphalt. The runway is lit for night operations, and an ILS is available for approaches to runway 11.
Approach control operates as PALEGRE APP on 119 MHz. An ATIS broadcast is available on 127.85 MHz for arrival and departure information. Ground movements are handled on 121.9 MHz, and the tower, using the callsign PALEGRE TWR, operates on 118.1 MHz. Runway 11 is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
The site began life as São João Federal Airport, named after the surrounding neighbourhood, with the first flights recorded on 31 May 1923 when it operated as an air club. Varig established an operational base there in 1932 as fixed-gear aircraft replaced its seaplanes, and the first passenger terminal was commissioned in 1940. On 12 October 1951 the airport was renamed Salgado Filho, honouring Senator Joaquim Pedro Salgado Filho, the first Minister of the Brazilian Air Force, who had died the previous year in an aircraft accident after departing Porto Alegre; a 1953 law formally preserved this name as an exception to standard airport-naming rules. Also in 1953 the runways were paved and a new terminal opened, since until then larger aircraft such as Lockheed L-049 Constellations had been obliged to use Canoas Air Force Base instead. The terminal was substantially enlarged between 1969 and 1971, and a new main terminal opened in September 2001 as traffic continued to grow. Infraero operated the airport until January 2018, when Fraport Brasil took over operations and administration under a 25-year concession won at auction the previous year. Fraport subsequently expanded the runway from 2,280 metres to its current 3,200 metres, work that was completed by 2022 and which allows larger wide-body aircraft to use the field. In May 2024 catastrophic flooding across Rio Grande do Sul inundated the airport's apron and runway, forcing an indefinite suspension of operations and stranding numerous aircraft on site; flights were temporarily redirected to Canoas Air Force Base before normal airport operations were fully restored by July 2024.
Salgado Filho continues to operate as a major international airport under Fraport Brasil, handling both domestic services within Brazil and international flights, including connections that became possible following the runway extension to 3,200 metres. A TAP Maintenance and Engineering centre is based at the airport. Following the severe flooding of 2024, the airport has resumed full operations from its own terminal facility.