Recife/Guararapes International Airport
airport
Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport (IATA: REC, ICAO: SBRF) is an international airport serving Recife, Brazil. Since 27 December 2001 it is named after the Recife-born Anthropologist and Sociologist Gilberto de Mello Freyre (1900–1987). Some of its facilities are shared with the Recife Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
Since 2019, it has been operated by AENA Brasil.
History
Originally called Ibura Airport, the airport had its name changed to Guararapes Airport in 1948. The facility originated during World War II, when a new airport was built to replace the earlier airfield, Parque do Encanta Moça. With the end of the War, the facility became strategically important as a technical and refueling stop on the route from South America to Europe.
On 21 July 1953, within a law prescribing rules for the naming of airports, the name of the facility was officially and exceptionally maintained as Guararapes Airport.
On 18 January 1958, a new passenger terminal was inaugurated, replacing the original facility. During this time, runway 14/32 was extended from 1,800 to 2,010 m (5,910 to 6,590 ft), and runway 18/36 was extended from 1,800 m to 2,400 m (7,900 ft).
“Recife/Guararapes International Airport” enters the record as airport. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Recife, Guararapes and International can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Recife/Guararapes International Airport” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Recife, Guararapes and International provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q387704. VIAF identifies the subject as 4018150325580010090007. Authority coordinates are -8.126, -34.923. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001, 1900, 1987 and 2019.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Recife/Guararapes International Airport”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Recife/Guararapes International Airport primary sources, Recife/Guararapes International Airport archive and Recife research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Recife/Guararapes International Airport”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Recife/Guararapes International Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.