SBMA Maraba On Sale
João Correa da Rocha Airport (IATA: MAB, ICAO: SBMA) is an airport serving the city of Marabá in Brazil. Although it only operates domestic flights, it is one of the busiest airports in the North of Brazil, and also one of the fastest growing in terms of passenger numbers.
It is located on the banks of the Transamazon Highway at 3. 5 km — towards the bridge over the Itacaiúnas River to Itupiranga — in the Quindangues district, in the urban core of Cidade Nova.
History
The hist... João Correa da Rocha Airport (IATA: MAB, ICAO: SBMA) is an airport serving the city of Marabá in Brazil. Although it only operates domestic flights, it is one of the busiest airports in the North of Brazil, and also one of the fastest growing in terms of passenger numbers.
It is located on the banks of the Transamazon Highway at 3. 5 km — towards the bridge over the Itacaiúnas River to Itupiranga — in the Quindangues district, in the urban core of Cidade Nova.
History
The history of the airport in Marabá dates back to the 1930s, when Brigadier Lysias Augusto Rodrigues and engineer Américo Barbosa de Oliveira, led the opening and construction of a landing strip in the future area of Nova Marabá. The inauguration is marked by the arrival of the first aircraft, a single-engine Waco CSO C-27, from Correio Aéreo Nacional, piloted by Brigadier Rodrigues, on November 17, 1935.
In 1940 and 1946, the runway was expanded and started to be managed by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), serving as an auxiliary air base during World War II. Asphalt would only come in 1966/1967.
With the imminence of the use of the Nova Marabá area for the construction of the future city of Marabá, the airstrip was transferred in 1973, by the FAB and the Superintendence for the Development of the Amazon (SUDAM), to Cidade Nova, at the back of the traditional neighborhood from Amapá.
Until 1978, João Correa da Rocha Airport had a precarious take-off and landing strip, and its movement was carried out by Douglas DC-3 aircraft and air taxis.
The connection with the city center was poor, given its location beyond the Itacaiúnas River, which separates the airport from the historic center of the city. At that time there was no road bridge over this river and the traffic of people and vehicles took place by boats and ferries, which made its use and development extremely difficult.
The donation contract from the Municipality of Marabá to the Federal Government was defined on September 14, 1977 (Process filed with the Ministry of Finance under No. MF 0768-81. 479/69). The new airport structure was built by the Ministry of Aeronautics, through the Amazon Airports Commission (COMARA). It opened on May 20, 1978.
On November 3, 1980, the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Company (Infraero) took over the airport, setting up in the same decade one of the most valuable Brazilian air bridges in that period, connecting Marabá to the Serra Pelada gold mining zone, with regular flights.
In 2010, in honor of journalist João Corrêa da Rocha, founder of the newspaper Notícias de Marabá, Marabá airport was named after him.
