Marechal Rondon International Airport

Várzea Grande–Marechal Rondon International Airport is the airport serving Cuiabá, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of Várzea Grande. It is named after Marshall Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon (1865–1958), a Brazilian explorer.

It is operated by Aeroeste.

History
Marechal Rondon International Airport was inaugurated in 1956 but operated precariously until the first passenger terminal building was completed in 1964.

Infraero became the operator of the airport in 1974, and in 1996 it was upgraded to international status.

The first phase of the construction of the new passenger terminal was completed on 30 June 2006. The second phase would involve the demolition of the old terminal building and the construction of the enlargement of the new passenger terminal on its place.



On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL30.9 million (US$16.3 million; EUR11.4 million) investment plan to up-grade Marechal Rondon International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which was held in Brazil, Cuiabá being one of the venue cities. The investment was distributed in the renovation of the passenger terminal, parking and access to the airport.

Responding to critiques to the situation of its airports, on May 18, 2011, Infraero released a list evaluating some of its most important airports according to their saturation levels. According to the list, Cuiabá was considered to be critically saturated, operating above 85% of its capacity.

On 15 March 2019, Aeroeste won a 30-year concession to operate the airport.

Statistics
Following is the number of passenger, aircraft and cargo movements at the airport, according to COA (2020-2023) reports:

Accidents and incidents

 * 30 March 1980: a VOTEC Britten-Norman Islander registration PT-JSC stalled and crashed upon take-off from Cuiabá. All 9 occupants died.
 * 23 June 1985: a TABA Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante registration PT-GJN flying from Juara to Cuiabá, while on approach to land at Cuiabá, had technical problems on engine number 1. An emergency landing was attempted but the aircraft stalled and crashed 1 km short of the runway. All 17 occupants died.

Access
The airport is located 10 km from downtown Cuiabá.