Santa Maria - Aracaju International Airport
Santa Maria - Aracaju International Airport (SBAR)
Santa Maria – Aracaju International Airport (SBAR) usually attracts visitors looking for the beautiful beaches on the coast of Sergipe and the traditional June festivities. However, anyone who thinks that the Santa Maria terminal only stands out for tourism is wrong. In addition to regular airport transfers, the unit is recognized for its excellence in offshore logistics activities.
The airport serves the demand for helicopters that transport employees to the oil platforms on the coast of Sergipe and Alagoas, on the Atlantic coast, moving an important business for the country's economy. The work has already granted the Peotram Award to the airport, in the Terrestrial Airport modality, conceded by Petrobras for two consecutive years, in 2020 and 2021.
Santa Maria started to be managed by Aena Brasil in 2020, after the company won the concession auction of the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), held in 2019. With the arrival of the spanish company, the goal is to expand the unit's infrastructure, taking airports to international standards followed by units from around the world.
The work is already underway. In 2022, Santa Maria – Aracaju International Airport received the Operational Certificate from the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac), which attests to the unit's operational capacity and operation in accordance with safety parameters established by national and international civil aviation bodies.
Aracaju Airport was inaugurated in 1958, in an official ceremony that was attended by the then President of the Republic, Juscelino Kubitschek. The history of aviation in Aracaju, however, begins much earlier, in 1923, when seaplanes began to land on the Sergipe River, to disembark passengers at the pier at Ponte do Imperador. Built in the center of the city for a visit by the imperial family in the 19th century, the old harbor ended up giving place to the Aeroclube de Aracaju in 1939.
Dating back to 1952, the runways were renovated and expanded in works that took place in the following years, until they reached the current configuration of 2,200 meters in length, in 1993. The passenger terminal also underwent several changes and, in 1998, Aracaju gained a new building, with 10 thousand square meters, and air-conditioned departure and arrival halls.
The renovations were a consequence of the need to meet the increased demand at the Santa Maria – Aracaju International Airport, which surpassed the mark of one million passengers per year, for the first time, in 2011, with a movement of 1,093,143 departures and arrivals.
In order to continue meeting demand, Aena Brasil started renovations at Santa Maria – Aracaju International Airport in 2022. The company is part of the Spanish company Aena, considered the largest airport operator in the world in terms of number of passengers. In Brazil, the concessionaire manages 17 terminals. In the six units in the Northeast, — Recife (PE), Maceió (AL), João Pessoa (PB), Aracaju (SE), Juazeiro do Norte (CE) and Campina Grande (PB) — the company is investing R$1.4 billion in structural works, which aim to increase airport capacity by between 60% and 100%.