Amilcar Cabral International Airport
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| Amilcar Cabral International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: SID - ICAO: GVAC | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Aeroportos Seguranca Aera (ASA) | ||
| Serves | Espargos | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 177 ft (54 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 01/19 | 10,734 | 3,272 | Paved |
| 07/25 | 4,921 | 1,500 | Paved |
Amilcar Cabral International Airport (IATA: SID, ICAO: GVAC), also known as Sal International Airport or Amilcar Cabral Airport, is the principal international airport of Cape Verde. The airport is named for revolutionary leader Amilcar Cabral.
It is located 2 km (1.3 miles) west southwest from Espargos on Sal Island. Until September 2005, it was the only airport in Cape Verde to serve international flights. (Cape Verde's other commercial airport is near Praia on Santiago Island.)
The airport's main runway (01/19) is 3,272m (10,734 ft) and is the longest in Cape Verde. It is used for long-haul flights. (It is also one of the designated emergency landing strips for the U.S. Space Shuttle.) The second runway (07/25) is 1,500m (4,921 ft) and is used by small planes. Sal is the main hub for the national airline, TACV Cabo Verde Airlines.
In 2004, the airport served 1,007,561 passengers (+21.4% vs. '03).
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[edit] History
The first airport on Sal Island was built in 1939 by Italy, as a fuel and provisions stopping-point on routes from Rome to South America. The first flight, an arrival from Rome and Seville, was on December 15, 1939. In 1947 the Portuguese colonial government purchased the airport from Italian interests. In 1950 DC-4 service on Alitalia began on a Rome-Sal-Buenos Aires-Caracas route. In 1961 jet service (a DC-8) on the route rendered the stop at Sal unnecessary, and international service was suspended.
In 1967 Sal was used again as a refueling stop, this time by South African Airways, for flights to and from Europe, since SAA was denied landing rights by most African countries due to the international boycott of apartheid. Later, Cubana and Aeroflot used Sal for refueling and passenger flights.
In 1995, TACV began service to Boston using a Boeing 757. Boston hosts the largest Cape Verdean community in the United States. Other international destinations include Amsterdam, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, and Porto. Domestic destinations include Santiago and São Vicente.
[edit] Facilities and transport
Amilcar 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 are used to transport passengers to the aircraft stands.
The airport is located on the east side connecting with the road linking Espargos and Santa Maria, the island's main tourist destination. There is presently no scheduled public transport, but taxis, shared cars known as alugers, and rental cars are available.
[edit] Airlines
- Astraeus (London-Gatwick)
- Cabo Verde Express (Boa Vista, Praia, Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente)
- Condor Airlines (Frankfurt)
- Neos (Bologna, Milan, Rome, Verona)
- TAAG Air Angola (Accra, Sao Tome, Luanda)
- TACV (Amsterdam, Bergamo, Boa Vista, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Porto, Praia, Sao Felipe,Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente, Trieste)
- TAP Portugal (Lisbon, Sao Tome)
- Thomsonfly (London-Gatwick)
[edit] References
- Finelli, Marco (November 2004) "Sal: Island Gateway in the Atlantic Ocean", Airliner World, pp. 64-66.
