Did you know Faro Airport is named after the navigator who designed a sextant for flying?

Since 7 September 2022, Faro Airport has officially carried the name of Gago Coutinho, the admiral who navigated the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic. ANA Aeroportos de Portugal announced the renaming at a ceremony presided over by the Prime Minister, after the Council of Ministers approved the name in June 2022 following a proposal from a citizens’ movement.

Gago Coutinho was born in São Brás de Alportel, in the Algarve. ANA notes that he designed a new type of sextant for air navigation, an instrument that was later used across the aviation industry.

The flight that made his name began on the River Tagus in Lisbon on 30 March 1922 and ended in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, on 17 June. The seaplane, piloted by Commander Sacadura Cabral, covered 4,500 nautical miles, around 8,300 kilometres. Faro Airport itself opened in 1965 and, according to ANA, is Portugal’s main tourist airport, with a record of 9.1 million passengers in 2019.

For travellers, the change is one of name only: it is the same Algarve airport. Booking sites and airline apps may show either “Faro” or “Gago Coutinho”, so it is worth knowing that both names refer to the same airport when planning a trip.