Paulo Ricardo has recently released his rendition of Viracopos International Airport (SBKP) for Microsoft Flight Simulator, serving the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo state, in Brazil. It's the fourth busiest airport in the country, with a yearly average of 11,845,500 passengers.

The airport originated from a small airfield built in 1932 during the Constitutionalist Revolution in Sao Paulo. Then, in the 1950s, it started as a cargo airport, which is still one of its main roles today.

In the 1960s, it was Sao Paulo's international airport because Guarulhos did not exist yet, and Congonhas (SBSP) didn't have a long enough runway to accommodate international jet planes. The distance (100km) quickly became an issue, as people would fly to Rio de Janeiro - Galeão instead and then take a connecting flight to Congonhas. As a curiosity, it even showed up in the Guinness Book during that time as the furthest airport from the city it claimed to serve. It was Sao Paulo's international airport for nearly 25 years until Guarulhos International Airport (SBGR) was constructed.

Losing the "crown" didn't mean it would be forgotten and left to rot, with Infraero investing millions in improving the airport's infrastructure for passengers and cargo. It was divided into three steps, the first completed in 2004, with the construction of new passenger lounges and a new cargo terminal. The second step, in 2005, expanded the passenger terminal and built a control tower. The third phase, which consists of constructing a second runway, still has yet to happen.

‍

It's a popular alternate airport to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão and both Congonhas and Guarulhos in Sao Paulo because it hardly closes due to adverse weather conditions.

Viracopos is the second busiest cargo airport in the country, with 77,000 square meters of cargo terminals, 1,700 square meters for animal cargo, and 1,480 cubic meters of refrigerated space.

‍

The airport is the hub for Azul Brazilian Airlines, covering a huge domestic network and a couple of international routes. GOL Transportes Aéreos, one of the biggest South American LCCs, offers five domestic routes from VCP. On the cargo side, it hosts Azul Cargo and LATAM Cargo.

The scenery features a highly accurate rendition of the airport and the surrounding city (Campinas), with a fully modeled passenger terminal and its interior, custom ground markings, landside buildings, custom ground clutter, custom night lighting, a realistic depiction of the internal layout with all of the shops as per real life, multiple POIs, and more.

It's available on the MSFS Marketplace for roughly $15.99, requiring at least 4.70 GB of free hard disk space to install.
Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

‍