Salgado Filho was originally called São João Federal Airport, after the neighborhood where it is located. In the beginning it was an air club, where the first flights landed on May 31, 1923. In 1932, needing a facility for the fixed-gear aircraft which were replacing its seaplanes, Varig started using São João Airport as an operational base. However, it was only in 1940 that the first passenger terminal was commissioned. On October 12, 1951, São João Federal Airport was renamed Salgado Filho Airport, after the Senator and Minister who died the year before in a crash involving a SAVAG aircraft that departed from Porto Alegre. On July 21, 1953, within a law prescribing rules for the naming of airports, the name of the facility was officially and exceptionally maintained as Salgado Filho Airport. In 1953, the old terminal was incorporated into the maintenance facilities of Varig, a new passenger terminal was opened, and runways were paved. Until that year, larger aircraft such as Lockheed L-049 Constellations had to land at Canoas Air Force Base. This new terminal is known today as Passenger Terminal 2. It underwent major renovations and enlargements between 1969 and 1971; but unable to cope with the increasing traffic, another brand new facility was built. This new facility was named Passenger Terminal 1 and opened on September 11, 2001. Terminal 2 became underused by general aviation and cargo services. However, in order to cope with the increasing passenger traffic at the airport, on September 8, 2010, a decision was made to renovate Terminal 2 and bring it back into passenger use. It became operational on December 4, 2010. This terminal 2 was again closed for air traffic on September 15, 2019, and it became the administration center of Fraport Brasil S.A.- Aeroporto de Porto Alegre. Responding to critiques to the situation of its airports, on May 18, 2011, Infraero released a list evaluating some of its most important airports according to its saturation levels. According to the list, Porto Alegre was considered to be in good situation, operating with less than 70% of its capacity. Previously operated by Infraero, in January 2018, the airport's operations and administration were taken over by the German private airport operator Fraport, which in the previous year had been the winning bidder in an B3 (stock exchange) auction conducted by the Brazilian government for the concession of the airport for 25 years. Since the airport concession, Fraport has been expanding the runway from the current 2,280 meters (7,481 ft) to 3,200 meters (10,499 ft), allowing the landing of large aircraft and allowing the landing of flights from North America and Europe. It is expected that the expansion works will be concluded at the end of 2021. The total area of the Salgado Filho Airport is about 3,805,810 square metres (40,965,400 sq ft) (940 acres) with 14,750 square metres (158,800 sq ft) of ramp area. Terminal 1 has 37,600 square metres (405,000 sq ft) and 16 gates with jetways. Terminal 2 has 15,540 square metres (167,300 sq ft). In front of Terminal 1 there is a carpark with 1,440 places. Terminal 1 is the first facility in Latin America with a shopping mall. One of the two TAP Maintenance & Engineering centers in Brazil is located at Salgado Filho International Airport. As of May 2022, the airport's expanded 3,200 m (10,499 ft) runway has come into operation. With the runway expansion, larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777-300 and Airbus 330-900 can operate at the airport, allowing direct flights to Europe and the United States. On May 3, 2024 due to catastrophic flooding affecting the State of Rio Grande do Sul and in particular to the flooding of the airport, all operations were suspended indefinitely. For this reason, 47 aircraft were stuck at airport after the apron and runways were flooded. As the water level normalized, the aircraft were gradually flown away.