Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport

A makeshift airfield with a 2,700-meter dirt runway and a palm-thatched terminal shack, built by Bernardo Sayão, received the first construction workers building Brasília on October 2, 1955.

The permanent airport opened May 3, 1957, following construction that began in November 1956; the presidential aircraft had landed at the new site the previous month.

A new passenger terminal designed by architect Tércio Fontana Pacheco opened in 1971 — the military government had rejected an earlier circular terminal proposal from Oscar Niemeyer.

On April 20, 1999, the airport was renamed in honor of Juscelino Kubitschek, Brazil's 21st president, who initiated Brasília's construction in 1956.

A second runway opened in 2005, expanding the airport's operational capacity as traffic grew.

On February 6, 2012, the federal government granted a 25-year concession to Consortium Inframérica (Engevix and Corporación América), with Infraero retaining a 49% stake; the new operator invested R$1.2 billion, nearly doubling jetways from 13 to 29.

A new South Concourse for domestic flights opened in April 2014, raising overall capacity to about 9 million annual passengers.

The airport recorded its all-time traffic peak in 2015 with roughly 19.8 million passengers, though volumes later declined amid unfinished promised expansions.