Rio Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport lies in the tropics at 22.81° S, 43.25° W, on America/Sao_Paulo time (UTC-3). Tropical airports contend with heat and humidity, both of which thin the air and lengthen takeoff runs, and with convective storms that build fast in the afternoon.
Rio Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport has 2 runways. The longest, 10/28, measures 13,123 ft by 148 ft, which puts the field in the full-length intercontinental category: a fully loaded Boeing 777 or Airbus A350 can depart for the far side of the world. Surfaces vary across the field (asphalt, concrete). Both are lit for night operations.
Runway 10/28 is aligned roughly east/west, which is the clearest hint you get about the prevailing wind here: runways are built to face the wind that blows most often, because aircraft take off and land into it. With 2 runways across 2 different headings, crews can pick whichever best suits the wind.
The runways are not interchangeable. 15/33 is 10,433 ft against 10/28's 13,123 ft, a difference of 2,690 ft, so the shorter one generally takes regional traffic while the longer handles anything heavy.