In turn, the Viscount's domain was named after the plural of a shrub known in Brazil as congonha-do-campo (Luxemburgia polyandra, of the Ochnaceae family).

[7] The site was outside the built-up urban area at the time, and it was chosen because it had favourable winds and lay on a high hill with little vegetation.

On 21 May 1959, a formal agreement between Varig, Cruzeiro do Sul and VASP created the shuttle service to Rio de Janeiro that made the airport famous, being the first of its kind in the world.

The service was called Air Bridge (Portuguese: Ponte Aérea), inspired on the Berlin Airlift; its first flight was operated on 6 July 1959.

It operated between Rio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont and Congonhas Airports and comprised regular departures, usually every half-hour, a common check-in counter and simplified tickets and formalities.

[9] Until 1985, Congonhas was the main airport of São Paulo operating domestic flights, as well as international service to neighbouring countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Bolivia.

Due to Congonhas' short runways, unable to accommodate most long-haul jets, intercontinental flights required changing planes at Rio de Janeiro–Galeão or were operated at Viracopos Airport.

However, Viracopos' distant location, in Campinas, 97 km (60 mi) from downtown São Paulo, made that choice inconvenient both for passengers and for airlines, so a connection in Rio was usually preferred.

Given the concentration of Brazil's economy in the Central-Southern region, where São Paulo is located, such flights make up the greatest share of the country's domestic air traffic.

In 2008 Congonhas lost its designation as an international airport, after it was decided that the operations had to be scaled down after an aircraft crashed there in 2007, killing 199 people.

Azul Brazilian Airlines offers free bus transfers for its passengers between Congonhas and Campinas-Viracopos International Airport during regular times.