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Amílcar Cabral International Airport

Coordinates:16°44′33″N022°56′53″W/ 16.74250°N 22.94806°W/16.74250; -22.94806
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(Redirected fromSal Airport)
"Sal Airport" redirects here. For the airport with IATA code SAL, seeMonseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport.

Amílcar Cabral International Airport

Aeroporto Internacional Amílcar Cabral
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorVinci Airports[1]
ServesEspargos
LocationSal,Cape Verde
Hubfor
ElevationAMSL54 m / 177 ft
Coordinates16°44′33″N022°56′53″W/ 16.74250°N 22.94806°W/16.74250; -22.94806
Websitewww.caboverde-airports.cv
Map
SID is located in Cape Verde
SID
SID
Location in Cape Verde
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
01/19 3,272 10,735 Paved
07/25 1,500 4,921 Paved
Statistics (2019)
Passengers1,192,828
Operations14.576
Metrictonnesof cargo443.3
Sources: World Aero Data[2]

Amílcar Cabral International Airport(IATA:SID,ICAO:GVAC), also known asSal International Airport,is the maininternational airportofCape Verde.The airport is named after the revolutionary leaderAmílcar Cabral.It is located two km west-southwest fromEspargosonSal Island.Sal is the main hub for the national airline,Cabo Verde Airlines;and serves as a base for carrierCabo Verde Express.This airport was also one of NASA's locations for a facility to handle theSpace Shuttleafter reentering from orbit.

History

[edit]

The first airport on Sal Island was built in 1939 byItaly,as a fuel and provisions stopping-point on routes fromEuropetoSouth America.[3]The first flight, an arrival from Rome andSeville,was on 15 December 1939. As a consequence of World War II, the Italian involvement in the airport project ceased. After World War II, thePortuguesecolonial government purchased the airport from Italy and by 1949 the airport was fully operational.[3]In 1950,DC-4service onAlitaliabegan on a Rome — Sal —Buenos Aires—Caracasroute. In 1961 jet service (aDC-8) on the route rendered the stop at Sal unnecessary, and international service was suspended.

Between 1960 and 1967 Sal was a stop of theVoo da amizade(Friendship Flight), a dedicated service betweenBrazilandPortugal.It was operated from 1960 to 1965 byPanair do Brasiland from 1965 to 1967 byTAP-Transportes Aéreos PortuguesesandVarig.Only Brazilian and Portuguese citizens or foreigners with permanent residence in Brazil or Portugal could purchase tickets for those flights, which were extremely popular due to their low fares. At this time, Cape Verde was a Portuguese Overseas Province and therefore part of the territory of Portugal.

From 1963 to 1975, thePortuguese Air Force's No 1 Transit Airfield (AT1,Aeródromo de Trânsito n.º 1) was installed at the Sal airport. The AT1 supported the military air connections between European Portugal and the Portuguese African provinces, as well as serving as the operational base for the maritime patrol aircraft occasionally deployed in Cape Verde.

Beginning in 1967,[citation needed]Sal was used as a refueling stop bySouth African Airways,for flights to and from Europe, since SAA was denied landing rights by most African countries due to the international boycott ofapartheid.[4]By 1983, SAA operated 13 round trips per week between Sal and Johannesburg, using the island as a stop for itsBoeing 747services toNew York,Houston,London,BrusselsandAmsterdam.[5]The island saw as many as 36 SAA flights per week in the mid-1980s, but this number was cut dramatically following the imposition of US sanctions in 1987.[6]By 1996 only one weekly SAA flight stopped at Sal (service between Johannesburg and New York).[7]Sal was later used as a fuel stop on SAA'sAtlantaservice starting in 2003.[8]SAA's final flight to Atlanta was on 1 July 2006.[citation needed]

Aeroflotused Sal as a stop on itsIl-62services fromMoscowandBudapesttoDakarandConakryin the late 1970s.[9]Cubanaalso operated Il-62s on theHavana-Sal-Luanda-Maputoroute in the early 1980s,[10]and the Havana-Sal-Bissau-Luanda route in the late 1980s.[11]

In 1985,TACVbegan service toBoston, Massachusettsusing aMcDonnell Douglas DC-10provided byLAM Mozambique Airlines.Boston hosts the largest Cape Verdean community in the United States. TACV flights to Boston have since been shifted toPraia International Airport.Other international destinations include inter aliaAmsterdam,Lisbon,Luxembourg,Madrid, Paris, andPorto.Domestic destinations includeSantiagoandSão Vicente.[12]

Until September 2005, it was the only airport in Cape Verde to serve international flights.[citation needed]There is now also international service toNelson Mandela International Airporton Praia.

Sal Airport terminal

Since 2017 Sal has been a refuelling stop for the twice-weekly South Atlantic Air Bridge service operated byAir Tankerbetween the UK and the Falkland Islands. This is a temporary arrangement until the runway at Ascension Island is repaired which is expected to be in 2020.[13]

In July 2023Vinci Airportsfinalized a financial arrangement to take over seven airports in Cape Verde under a concession agreement signed with the island country’s government. The company will be responsible for the funding, operation, maintenance, extension and modernization of the airports for 40 years, alongside its subsidiary ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal, which holds 30% of the concession company Cabo Verde Airports.[1]

Facilities and transport

[edit]

Terminal

[edit]
Inside the terminal at Sal Airport.

Amílcar Cabral has one terminal. It is a two-story building containing check-in, waiting, and arrival areas, as well as shopping, banking, and passenger services. The second floor houses airport operations and airline offices. There are four gates, and buses (Cobus3000s) are used to transport passengers to the aircraft stands.

Cabo Verde Expresshas its head office in the Concourse Hall.[14]The twoduty-free shopsalong with refreshment facilities, retail kiosks and outdoor smoking areas are located after security scanning and passport control, adjacent to the six departure gates.

Runways

[edit]

The airport's main runway is 3,272 m (10,734 ft) long and is the longest in Cape Verde. It is used for long-haul flights. It was also one of the designated emergency landing strips for the U.S.Space Shuttle.[15]The second runway is 1,500 m (4,921 ft) long and was used by small planes. It is now closed for traffic.

Airlines and destinations

[edit]

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Sal Amílcar Cabral Airport:

AirlinesDestinations
AlbaStarSeasonal:Bergamo[16]
Air EuropaSeasonal charter:Madrid
Air SenegalDakar–Diass[17]
Azores AirlinesSeasonal:Lisbon
Bestfly Cabo Verde[18]Boa Vista,Praia,São Nicolau,São Vicente(all suspended)[19]
Binter CanariasGran Canaria
Bulgaria AirSeasonal charter:Sofia[20]
Cabo Verde Airlines[21]Bergamo,[22]Lisbon,Paris–Charles de Gaulle,[23]Praia
easyJet[24]Lisbon(begins 29 October 2024),Porto(begins 30 October 2024)
Edelweiss AirSeasonal:Zurich[25]
Enter AirSeasonal charter:Katowice,[26]Warsaw–Chopin[26]
LuxairSeasonal:Luxembourg
NeosBergamo(begins 6 June 2024),Milan–Malpensa,Rome–Fiumicino,Verona
SmartwingsSeasonal charter:Bilbao(begins 19 June 2024),[27]Bratislava,Brno,Katowice,Madrid,Porto,Prague,Vienna,[28]Warsaw-Chopin
Sunclass AirlinesSeasonal charter:Bergen(begins 10 November 2024),[29]Billund,[30]Copenhagen,[30]Gothenburg,[31]Helsinki,[32]Oslo,[29]Stavanger(begins 10 November 2024),[29]Stockholm–Arlanda[31]
TAP Air PortugalLisbon
TAROMSeasonal charter:Bucharest[33]
TransaviaLyon(begins 15 December 2024),Marseille(begins 14 December 2024),Paris–Orly
TUI Airways[34]Birmingham,Bristol,East Midlands(ends 26 April 2025),[35]Glasgow,[36]London–Gatwick,Manchester,Newcastle upon Tyne[37]
TUI fly BelgiumBrussels
TUI fly DeutschlandDüsseldorf,Frankfurt,Hannover,Munich,Stuttgart
Seasonal:Hamburg
TUI fly NetherlandsAmsterdam
Seasonal:Eindhoven
TUI fly NordicSeasonal charter:Copenhagen,[38]Gothenburg,[39]Helsinki,[40]Stockholm–Arlanda[39]
VuelingSeasonal:Barcelona[41]

Statistics

[edit]
Annual passenger traffic at SID airport. SeeWikidata query.
Year Passengers Operations Cargo (t)
2016[42] 914,696 11,164 816.3
2017[42] 1,092,789 12,479 617.7
2018 1,184,636 13,429 429.3
2019 1,192,828 14,576 443.3

Access

[edit]

The airport is located on the west side of the road (EN1-SL01) linking Espargos andSanta Maria,the island's main tourist destination. There is no scheduled public transport;taxicabs,shared cars known as "aluguer", andrental carsare available.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ab"VINCI Takes Over Seven Cape Verde Airports".aviationweek.com.25 July 2023.Retrieved5 February2024.
  2. ^"World Aero Data: AMILCAR CABRAL INTL -- GVAC".worldaerodata.com.Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.Retrieved23 June2011.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^abRay Almeida."A History of Ilha do Sal".Archived fromthe originalon 6 February 2016.
  4. ^Pirie, G. H. (1990). "Aviation, Apartheid and Sanctions: Air Transport to and from South Africa,1945—1989".GeoJournal.22(3): 231–40.doi:10.1007/BF00192821.S2CID154691990.
  5. ^"OAG Schedules to Johannesburg - Effective July 1, 1983".www.departedflights.com.Retrieved25 July2018.
  6. ^May, Clifford D. (2 July 1987)."FIGHTING APARTHEID DESPITE THE COST".The New York Times.Retrieved23 July2018.
  7. ^"OAG schedules to Johannesburg International Airport - Effective October 1, 1996".www.departedflights.com.Retrieved25 July2018.
  8. ^"Island stop makes SAA's Atlanta hauls longer | IOL News".Retrieved23 July2018.
  9. ^"Aeroflot timetable, 1977".
  10. ^"Cubana timetable, 1984".
  11. ^"Cubana timetable, 1989".
  12. ^TACV Cabo Verde Airlines International routesArchived23 October 2019 at theWayback Machine,airlineroutemaps.com, retrieved 2 October 2015
  13. ^[1]Mercopress - South Atlantic Press Agency retrieved 18 January 2018
  14. ^"Contact UsArchived4 March 2016 at theWayback Machine."Cabo Verde Express.Retrieved on 14 December 2011.
  15. ^Pike, John."SPACE SHUTTLE EMERGENCY LANDING SITES".www.globalsecurity.org.
  16. ^"Albastar annuncia la programmazione estiva in partenza dall'Aeroporto di Milano Bergamo".AlbaStar.21 March 2022.
  17. ^"Air Senegal Resumes Ilha do Sal Service From July 2023".Aeroroutes.Retrieved20 June2023.
  18. ^"Schedules".bestflycaboverde.com.
  19. ^ch-aviation.com - Bestfly pulls out of Cabo Verde over ACMI debacle24 April 2024
  20. ^""България Еър" изпълни исторически първи полет между България и Кабо Верде ".24 October 2021. Archived fromthe originalon 27 October 2021.Retrieved24 October2021.
  21. ^"Flight Schedule".caboverdeairlines.com.
  22. ^"Cabo Verde Airlines Resumes Italy Service From Nov 2023".Aeroroutes.Retrieved9 October2023.
  23. ^"CABO VERDE AIRLINES VAI RETOMAR VOOS PARA PARIS".
  24. ^Liu, Jim (10 May 2024)."EASYJET ADDS CAPE VERDE SERVICE IN NW24".Aeroroutes.Retrieved11 May2024.
  25. ^Liu, Jim."Edelweiss Air adds 3 African routes in 4Q20".Routesonline.Retrieved27 August2020.
  26. ^ab"air and charter tickets".itaka.pl.Archived fromthe originalon 9 March 2018.Retrieved4 September2018.
  27. ^"Smartwings Adds Bilbao – Ilha Do Sal Charters in NS24".AeroRoutes.
  28. ^"Kapverden: TUI mit Direktflug im Winter 2023/2024".
  29. ^abc"Flight".Ving.no.
  30. ^ab"Flight".spies.dk.
  31. ^ab"Flight".ving.se.
  32. ^"Flight".tjareborg.fi.
  33. ^"Karpaten Toursim schedules the first charter flight from Romania to Cape Verde".boardingpass.ro. 20 February 2021.
  34. ^"Flight Timetable".tui.co.uk.
  35. ^https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/tui-adds-300000-seats-to-summer-2025-programme
  36. ^"Tui adds 150,000 seats to make winter 2023-24 biggest ever".
  37. ^"Tui adds 150,000 seats to make winter 2023-24 biggest ever".
  38. ^"Only Flight".tui.dk.
  39. ^ab"Only Flight".tui.se.
  40. ^"Only Flight".tui.fi.
  41. ^"New Routes".vueling.com.
  42. ^ab"Boletim Estatístico de Tráfego – Ano 2017"(PDF)(in Portuguese). ASA. January 2018.Retrieved14 August2018.
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