PORTO AIRPORT

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (IATA: OPO, ICAO: LPPR), or simply Porto Airport, is an international airport near Porto, Portugal. It is located 11 km (6.8 mi) northwest of the Clérigos Tower in the centre of Porto, in the municipalities of Maia, Matosinhos and Vila do Conde, position 41°14/53"N, 008°40/53"W, Elevation 69m (228ft).

The airport is currently the second busiest in the country based on aircraft operations and the second busiest in passengers, based on Aeroportos de Portugal traffic statistics, after Lisbon Portela Airport. Porto Airport reached its six millionth passenger mark on the 30th December 2011. It is named after a Portuguese Prime Minister, Francisco de Sá Carneiro, who was killed in an airplane crash as he was heading to this airport. It was previously known as Aeroporto de Pedras Rubras. The airport is a base for Ryanair and a focus city for TAP Portugal. It's also the second busiest hub for European Airways Group, VAG.

It has two main runways, capable of accommodating large-size aircraft such as the Boeing 747. On the 25th February 2008, Airports Council International (ACI) announced that according to its 2007 Airport Service Quality Survey, Porto placed first overall in Europe for service and placed fourth among airports worldwide having fewer than 5 million passengers.

On 2009 it's placed third among best european airports having fewer than 5 million passengers.

In 2011, the airport handled 6 million passengers and 34.100 tonnes of cargo. Its cargo terminal has a capacity of 40,000 tonnes, with a warehouse of 8700m³ or 93646 square feet and a freighter dock for 3 Boeing 747's. There is also a facility for handling domestic cargo, mechanical, aircraft maintenance, courier/express consignments and heavy/very large cargo. A facility is also available for heated, refrigerated, deep freeze and air-conditioned storage. Secure facilities for radioactive, dangerous and valuable goods are available.

Porto airport is normally referenced as a non-dangerous airport. As a record for incidents, two episodes may be pointed out:

§ February, the 3rd 2009: a Lufthansa airplane is striked by a lighting without suffering damages, on final approach

§ July, the 11th 2009: An Airbus A330 from TAP departing to Caracas, Venezuela, returned to Porto short after taking off due to a birdstrike.