Seaplanes, which at the time operated the majority of domestic and international flights, used a terminal located at the Calabouço Point, an area known today as Praça Marechal Âncora.

In 1936, the runway was extended to 2,300 feet (700 m) and on 30 November it received its first commercial flight, a VASP Junkers Ju 52 aircraft flying from São Paulo–Congonhas.

It was a replacement for the original passenger terminal and was used by all airlines except Panair do Brasil and Pan American World Airways, which used their own facilities.

Today, this protected building houses the Historical and Cultural Institute of the Brazilian Air Force (INCAER).

[7] On 21 May 1959 a formal agreement between Varig, Cruzeiro do Sul, and VASP created an air shuttle service (Portuguese: Ponte Aérea), the first of its kind in the world.

This service operated between Rio de Janeiro–Santos Dumont Airport and São Paulo–Congonhas and comprised regular hourly departures, common check-in counter, and simplified tickets and formalities.

An idea of these operations is given in the 007–James Bond film Moonraker of 1979, in which a Lockheed L-188 Electra briefly appears taking-off from the airport.

The plan focused on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil and Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

A highlight of Santos Dumont Airport is the modern departure lounge, the first in the country to be completely covered with transparent material, which provides a wide view of Guanabara Bay, where it is possible to see tourist attractions such as the Rio-Niterói Bridge, Fiscal Island, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the city of Niterói, the Naval School and Sugarloaf Mountain.

In 2020 positions inverted and in 2022 Santos Dumont was accounting for approximately 63% of the total traffic of Greater Rio de Janeiro, spread into three airports.

Using the opportunity of reduced traffic, the same resolution authorized the upgrade works of Runway End Safety Areas applying engineered materials arrestor system.

[15][16] Following resistance from the international aviation community, on November 8, 2023 these restrictions were reversed and replaced by an annual cap of 6,5 million passengers starting in 2024.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Media related to Santos Dumont Airport at Wikimedia Commons