The Rivera Airport was inaugurated by the president of Uruguay, together with other authorities from both countries, who launched the first binational Latin airport terminal serving the cities of Rivera and Santana do Livramento.
The opening ceremony was attended by visitors and aircraft from various parts of America, the foreign ministers and ambassadors of the two countries, along with various national, regional and municipal authorities from Uruguay and Brazil (especially the ministers of Transportation and Public Works of the country). host and that of Ports and Airports of Brazil), parliamentarians, as well as the top officials of the concessionaire Aeropuertos del Uruguay / Corporación América.
Rivera International Airport "Presidente General (Military Aviator Pilot) don Óscar D. Gestido" (IATA: RVY, ICAO: SURV) is a public airport serving the city of Rivera, in Uruguay, located 10 km southeast of the city, and southwest of Cerro Chapeu, which gave it its name until 1999. It also serves the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento. It was inaugurated on June 16, 1979, and since 1999 it has been named after the Uruguayan military man, politician and ruler Óscar Diego Gestido. Until then it was called Rivera International Airport "Cerro Chapeu".
Rivera Airport is managed and maintained by the Ministry of National Defense. The equipment and technology of this terminal has become almost obsolete due to financial limitations, so in December 2020 the Uruguayan government created the National System of International Airports (SNAI), in order to prioritize the development of airport services in the country.In April 2021, it was established that Rivera would be one of the eight airports that would integrate this system. The executive branch plans to put out to tender the concession of its operations to private companies for a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 50 years. The requirements are to carry out infrastructure and runway conditioning works, flight control technology and modernization of ground services to increase the capacity of passenger and cargo aircraft.
The aerodrome has a single landing strip, 05/23, with bitumen treatment and 1,830 meters long and 45 meters wide, with capacity for up to 30 tons, which allows a Boeing 737 to operate.