Rio Santos Dumont: around the Sugarloaf
A short downtown runway on Guanabara Bay, with Sugarloaf Mountain towering beside the approach.
Rio Santos Dumont: around the Sugarloaf
Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont Airport · RWY 02R
Why it is famous
Santos Dumont Airport sits on Guanabara Bay right beside central Rio de Janeiro, with a runway of about 4,300 feet. Arrivals from the south pass close to Sugarloaf Mountain, which rises nearly 1,300 feet straight out of the water, and finish over the bay.
The jet-set angle
Its downtown location makes it the private-jet and shuttle airport of choice for Rio business travellers; long-range jets use Galeão instead.
What to watch
- Sugarloaf Mountain passing off the left wing, above the aircraft
- The beaches of Copacabana and Botafogo in the distance
- Water right up to both ends of the runway
More legendary approaches
St Barts: the drop over the hill
Clear a ridge with a roundabout on top, dive for a runway barely 2,100 feet long and stop before the beach — one of the most famous landings in the world.
St Maarten: low over Maho Beach
The approach that made plane-spotting famous: a three-degree final that crosses Maho Beach moments before touchdown.
London City: the 5.5° dive past Canary Wharf
A glide path almost twice as steep as normal, between skyscrapers and the Thames — only specially approved aircraft may fly it.
Sources and credits
Imagery: NASA GIBS, with aerial photos from USGS, swisstopo, IGN and basemap.at where available · terrain © Mapterhorn (CC BY 4.0) · 3D aircraft models by Nick the Name and BlenderCommunityHead (CC BY 4.0) · 3D engine: CesiumJS.
- Rio Santos Dumont: around the Sugarloaf · Mariordo (Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons