Rio Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport (SBGL/GIG)
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro Airline Crew Layover Guide
Reviewed by Captain AL
Crew car rental deal ↓Hotel deals ↓
The GIG crew card
| Cheapest into town | BRT Transcarioca Parador from Estacao Galeao Tom Jobim 1 or Estacao Galeao Tom Jobim 2, BRL 5,00, every day from 4 a.m. to midnight, running to Terminal Alvorada in Barra da Tijuca and to Madureira |
|---|---|
| When the lines run | BRT every day 4 a.m. to midnight; the metro runs Monday to Saturday 5 a.m. to midnight and Sundays and holidays 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Outside those hours the official airport taxi rank is the only option with a published price |
| Payments | Use a Cartao Jae or a QR code from the Jae app. The Jae card fare is BRL 5,00, and BRT to metro integration costs BRL 9,70 and works only at Vicente de Carvalho and Jardim Oceanico stations |
| Tap water | Treated to legal potability standards up to the building connection; the utility publishes no verdict on a building’s own storage tanks |
| Emergency | 190 (190 police, 192 ambulance and 193 fire are each carried by two Brazilian government portals as well as four foreign foreign-ministry pages. Brazil does not use a single number: police, ambulance and fire are separate.) |
| Solo & at night | The UK FCDO states ‘Do not hail taxis on the street’ and that ‘There are authorised taxi booths at most airports in Brazil’. At RIOgaleao the official common taxi boards at floor zero, door A, and Uber has its own marked point on the arrivals floor, left as you leave arrivals |
| Crew knows | The airport prints a fixed taxi table by neighbourhood, so a straight run into town has a knowable price before you get in. What no operator prints is a journey time, on any mode, so the clock is the part you have to plan around, not the fare |
| Crew deals | Verified car rental and hotel rates for airline staff: on this page, right below this guide. |
airlinecrewdiscount.net · GIG crew card · Checked Aug 2026 · Next check Nov 2026 · Screenshot this card for offline
Every number on this page comes from an official source. Where no official source gives a number, we say so instead of guessing.
Getting from GIG Airport into Rio de Janeiro: which ride makes sense?
GIG sits on the Ilha do Governador, north of the centre, and Santos Dumont (SDU) sits downtown on the bay. Every number below belongs to GIG unless it says otherwise. The BRT is the cheap way out, the metro is reached through one BRT interchange, and the official taxi rank publishes a fixed price list by neighbourhood. No operator publishes a journey time from Galeao into the city, on any mode. Check a live map before you leave, and add extra time for traffic.
👉 Swipe sideways to see the full table
| Mode | Time | Cost | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRT Transcarioca Parador (GIG) | every day from 4 a.m. to midnight | BRL 5,00 | Boards at Estacao Galeao Tom Jobim 1 and Estacao Galeao Tom Jobim 2, at the arrivals level of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The Transcarioca Parador Galeao lines link Terminal Alvorada in Barra da Tijuca and Estacao Madureira to the airport, and the airport operator names them elsewhere as ’38 – Alvorada x Galeao Tom Jobim – PARADOR’ and ’42 – Madureira x Galeao (Parador)’. Parador means it stops at every station. Buses from Alvorada and Madureira call at Estacao Vicente de Carvalho for the metro, and at Madureira you can change to SuperVia trains. The operator publishes no journey time and no headway for these lines, so none is stated here. |
| BRT plus metro to the Zona Sul (GIG) | metro lines 1, 2 and 4 run Monday to Saturday from 5 a.m. to midnight, and Sundays and holidays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. | BRL 9,70 for the integrated BRT and MetroRio fare on a Cartao Jae; BRL 7,90 for the metro on its own | The airport operator states that Vicente de Carvalho metro station connects to the BRT parador that runs direct to RIOgaleao. Jae, the city ticketing system, states independently that BRT to metro integration happens only at Vicente de Carvalho and Jardim Oceanico. Coming from Jardim Oceanico the airport operator routes you on line ‘2 – Jardim Oceanico x Alvorada’ to Terminal Alvorada and then onto ’38 – Alvorada x Galeao Tom Jobim – PARADOR’. Estacao Galeao Tom Jobim 2 is at Terminal 2 arrivals, door D. |
| Express bus GIG to Terminal Intermodal Gentileza | the VLT concessionaire’s Terminal Gentileza page lists ‘Galeao x TIG (servico executivo)’ as running every day from 6 a.m. to midnight | BRL 15,00 per the airport operator, which lists the service as ‘Galeao x Terminal Gentileza’, operator Mobi-RIO, boarding at Terminal 2 arrivals | The fare and the operating hours come from two different official pages that name the service slightly differently, so both are quoted with their source rather than merged. The same terminal page separately lists a ‘Terminal Gentileza x Galeao Tom Jobim (Direto)’ among BRT Transbrasil services running 4 a.m. to midnight, so more than one airport service may call there. Terminal Intermodal Gentileza opened in February 2024 between Sao Cristovao and the port district, is served by municipal buses, BRT Transbrasil and VLT Carioca lines 1 (Santos Dumont to T. Gentileza) and 4 (Praca XV to T. Gentileza), and sits 500 m from the Rodoviaria do Rio coach station. VLT lines 1 and 4 run every day from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. at BRL 5,00 a ride. |
| Official taxi, Taxi Comum (GIG) | Aerocoop is listed as operating 24 hours | fixed table from Tom Jobim by neighbourhood, Tarifa 1 then Tarifa 2: Centro up to Rio Branco BRL 82,00 / BRL 97,00; Copacabana BRL 118,00 / BRL 141,00; Ipanema BRL 118,00 / BRL 141,00; Leblon BRL 120,00 / BRL 143,00; Barra da Tijuca up to Ayrton Senna BRL 155,00 / BRL 185,00; Santos Dumont airport BRL 86,00 / BRL 102,00 | Tarifa 1 is bandeira 1 and Tarifa 2 is bandeira 2. The fare table states that bandeira 2 applies at night and in the early morning, Monday to Saturday from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., and all day on Sundays and public holidays. Board at floor zero, door A, next to domestic arrivals. The airport lists Aerotaxi on +55 21 2467-1500 and Aerocoop on +55 21 3078-5050, both at Terminal 2, floor 0, arrivals, and states that the price charged is based on the meter or on the table regulated by the city. A separate executive taxi table boards at door B and prices Santos Dumont at BRL 155,00, Centro after Rio Branco at BRL 155,00, Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon at BRL 198,00 and Barra da Tijuca at BRL 240,00. |
| Uber (GIG) | app priced; the airport publishes no fare | RIOgaleao states it provides an exclusive Uber boarding point on the arrivals floor: leaving through the arrivals area, turn left to find it. The point serves both domestic and international arrivals. The UK FCDO advises checking that the number plate and the driver match your confirmed booking before getting in. |
Best Areas for Crew Stays in Rio de Janeiro, from the downtown tram lines to the beaches and the BRT terminus out west
Centro and Lapa: The working downtown and the arches, reached by VLT Carioca from Terminal Gentileza or Santos Dumont, busy on weekdays and much quieter at the weekend.
Copacabana: The long beachfront where most of the city’s hotel stock sits, and the neighbourhood most layover rosters land in.
Ipanema and Leblon: The next two beaches west, quieter streets and restaurants, and the far end of the metro network.
Santa Teresa: The hillside neighbourhood above Lapa, cobbled and steep, reached by the Bondinho tram rather than by metro.
Barra da Tijuca: Wide beaches and malls out west, where the BRT Transcarioca from the airport ends at Terminal Alvorada.
What to Do on a Layover in Rio de Janeiro, from staying airside to a full day in the city
Under 5 hours: Stay airside. GIG is out on the Ilha do Governador and the road back crosses the whole north of the city, so a round trip into town does not sit comfortably inside a short window.
5 to 9 hours: One destination, one mode, and a fixed time to turn around. The official taxi table makes the cost of a straight run to Centro or Copacabana knowable before you get in, which matters more than saving a few reais when your report time is fixed.
9 hours plus: A real city window: the BRT out to a metro interchange and down to the beaches, or the express bus to Terminal Gentileza and the VLT into the centre. Work backwards from the last BRT at midnight and the last metro, and keep the airport taxi table in your pocket as the fallback.
Crew Tips for Rio de Janeiro and GIG Airport
Paying for transit: The Cartao Jae is the city card. Buy it from the self-service machines in VLT stations or request it in the app, then top it up in the app, on the Jae site, or at the machines. You can also pay by QR code generated in the Jae app, held under the validator, with a new code needed for every single ride. One fare covers a change between different VLT lines within one hour of the first validation. Bilhete Unico Carioca integration runs 2 hours 30 minutes with municipal buses and the intermunicipal version runs 3 hours with trains, ferries and intermunicipal buses and vans. Riding without paying carries a BRL 170 fine under municipal law 6.065/2016.
Safety, in the official wording: The UK FCDO states that the most common incidents affecting British nationals in Rio de Janeiro are thefts and pickpocketing around Copacabana beach, Ipanema beach, Lapa and Santa Teresa, and that tourists have reported armed robberies on the Corcovado walking trail to the Christ the Redeemer statue. It states ‘Robberies are common in many cities, particularly on buses’ and that thieves target mobile phones particularly between 4pm and 9pm, and it says plainly ‘Do not go on to city beaches after dark.’ On favelas it says to avoid all of them, including favela tours marketed to tourists, and to make sure GPS navigation does not route you into one. On the metro it records theft and robbery on urban rail and advises against wearing expensive jewellery and watches or using a phone during the ride. The FCDO puts it plainly: do not resist attackers, and if threatened hand over your valuables without resistance.
Taxis and ride-hailing: The UK FCDO reports express kidnappings, assaults and robberies from unlicensed taxis, including cars using fraudulent internet-based taxi accounts, and states ‘Do not hail taxis on the street. There are authorised taxi booths at most airports in Brazil.’ At RIOgaleao that means the marked common taxi rank at floor zero, door A, or the executive rank at door B, both by domestic arrivals, or the airport’s own Uber point on the arrivals floor. The airport states the fare is based on the meter or on the table regulated by the city, and the table is published per neighbourhood, so agree which line of it applies before you load the bags.
Luggage storage at GIG: Malex runs left luggage at RIOgaleao, listed by the airport under guarda-volumes and baggage services. It sits in the public area of arrivals at Terminal 2, floor 0, and the airport lists it as open 24 hours. Protec Bag, for bag wrapping, is at Terminal 2, floor 2, departures, also listed as 24 hours. The airport publishes no prices for either.
Connectivity and a place to work: Aerochip, listed by the airport under telephony, sells and activates SIM cards for arrival in Brazil and for travel abroad. It is at Terminal 2, floor 0, arrivals, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., so a red-eye arrival lands outside its hours. The airport also lists a 24 hour coworking space at Terminal 2, floor 1, mezzanine, on the domestic departures side, described as having Wi-Fi. RIOgaleao publishes no page for airport-wide free Wi-Fi, so no network name or free-access claim is made here.
Getting between GIG and Santos Dumont (SDU): Rio has two airports and they are not close. GIG is on the Ilha do Governador north of the centre and SDU is downtown on the bay. The only fixed price published for the hop is the official GIG taxi table, which lists Aeroporto Santos Dumont at BRL 86,00 on tarifa 1 and BRL 102,00 on tarifa 2 in a common taxi, and BRL 155,00 in an executive taxi. On public transport the chain is the airport express bus from GIG Terminal 2 to Terminal Intermodal Gentileza and then VLT Carioca line 1, which terminates at Santos Dumont and runs every day from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Neither operator publishes an end to end journey time, so leave far more slack than the map suggests.
Emergency Numbers for Rio de Janeiro, GIG Airport, and Brazil
👉 Swipe sideways if the numbers do not fit
| Police (Policia Militar) | 190 |
| Ambulance (SAMU) | 192 |
| Fire brigade (Corpo de Bombeiros) | 193 |
| Tourist police, Rio de Janeiro (DEAT), Av. Afranio de Melo Franco 159, Leblon (single-sourced on one foreign government page; no Brazilian official source was reachable to corroborate it, so re-confirm before next_due) | +55 21 2332 2924 |
| Water utility Aguas do Rio, 24 hours, calls and WhatsApp | 0800 195 0 195 |
| Brazil country code (calling from abroad) | +55 |
Save these before you fly; numbers work from any phone.
How do I get from Rio Galeao airport to the city?
The cheapest official route is the BRT Transcarioca Parador from Estacao Galeao Tom Jobim 1 or 2, at the arrivals level of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. It costs BRL 5,00, runs every day from 4 a.m. to midnight, and links the airport to Terminal Alvorada in Barra da Tijuca and to Madureira. For the metro, change at Vicente de Carvalho; the integrated BRT and metro fare on a Cartao Jae is BRL 9,70. For a fixed price straight into town, the official taxi rank at floor zero, door A, works to a table published by neighbourhood.
How much is a taxi from Galeao airport to Copacabana?
The airport’s own common taxi table prices Copacabana at BRL 118,00 on tarifa 1 and BRL 141,00 on tarifa 2. Tarifa 2 applies at night and in the early morning, Monday to Saturday from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., and all day on Sundays and public holidays. Ipanema is the same, Leblon is BRL 120,00 and BRL 143,00, and Centro up to Rio Branco is BRL 82,00 and BRL 97,00. An executive taxi to Copacabana, Ipanema or Leblon is BRL 198,00.
Does the BRT run all night from Galeao airport?
No. The airport states the BRT runs every day from 4 a.m. to midnight. The metro runs Monday to Saturday from 5 a.m. to midnight and Sundays and holidays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and VLT Carioca runs every day from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Outside those hours the only option with a published price is the official airport taxi rank, where Aerocoop is listed as operating 24 hours.
Can you drink the tap water in Rio de Janeiro?
Aguas do Rio states that treatment makes the water fit for consumption to the potability standards required by law, and that treated water within those standards reaches each building connection through the network. Its 2025 report for Rio de Janeiro shows the same number of samples analysed and conforming in every month for turbidity, free residual chlorine, colour, total coliforms and E. coli. The utility’s own scope stops at the building connection and it publishes nothing about a building’s own storage tanks, so treat the tank in your hotel as unaddressed rather than approved.
How do I get from Galeao (GIG) to Santos Dumont (SDU)?
Rio has two airports and they are far apart: GIG is on the Ilha do Governador and SDU is downtown on the bay. The official GIG taxi table prices Aeroporto Santos Dumont at BRL 86,00 on tarifa 1 and BRL 102,00 on tarifa 2 in a common taxi, or BRL 155,00 in an executive taxi. On public transport, take the airport express bus from GIG Terminal 2 to Terminal Intermodal Gentileza and then VLT Carioca line 1, which terminates at Santos Dumont and runs every day from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. No operator publishes an end to end time for that chain.
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Crew Discounts in Rio de Janeiro: verified car rental and hotel rates for airline staff sit right below this guide. Bookmark this page before you walk out of arrivals. Next Rio de Janeiro rotation you start on the rates instead of from scratch.
