Amílcar Cabral International Airport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amílcar 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		16.7425° N 22.9481° W
Website		http://www.asa.cv
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
01/19	10,734	3,272	Paved
07/25	4,921	1,500	Paved

ATR42 in Sal (Amilcar Cabral Airport).

Amílcar Cabral International Airport (IATA: SID, ICAO: GVAC), also known as Sal International Airport or Amílcar Cabral Airport, is the principal international airport of Cape Verde. The airport is named for revolutionary leader Amílcar 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.^[1] 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. 2003).

1 History
2 Facilities and transport
3 Airlines and destinations
- 3.1 Cargo
4 Former Airlines operated in (SID/GVAC)
5 List
6 References
7 External links

[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 1985, TACV began service to Boston, Massachusetts using a LAM DC10. 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.

Currently TAAG Angolan Airlines code-shares with TACV with a stop-over in Sal due to the European Union ban on the Angolan airline operating in its airspace.

[edit] Facilities and transport

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 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 and destinations

Air China (Beijing, São Paulo-Guarulhos)[pending governament approval]
Air Italy (Milan-Malpensa)
Air Italy Polska (Warsaw) [Seasonal]
Astraeus (London-Gatwick, Manchester)
Cabo Verde Express (Boa Vista, Praia, Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente, Fogo, Maio)
Corsairfly (Paris-Orly)
Czech Airlines (Prague)
EuroAtlantic Airways (Lisbon(Seasonal))
First Choice Airways (London-Gatwick, Manchester)
Futura (BudgetAir) (Madrid)
Halcyon Air/Cabo Verde Airways (Boa Vista, Praia, Maio, Sao Felipe, Sao Vicente)[pending governament approval]
Livingston Airlines (Milan-Malpensa, Verona)
Neos (Bologna, Milan-Malpensa, Rome, Verona, Catánia, Bergamo)
TAAG Angola Airlines (Luanda, Sao Tome)
TACV (Amsterdam, Boa Vista, Bissau, Fortaleza, Lisbon, London-Stansted, Madrid (Start in July), Manchester (summer 2008), Moscow (winter 2008), Munich, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Porto, Praia, Rome-Fiumicino, Sao Felipe, Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente, Warsaw)
TAP Portugal (Lisbon)
Thomsonfly (Birmingham, London, Manchester)
Travel Service (Prague, Budapest)
TUIfly (Düsseldorf, Hannover, Munich, Frankfurt)
TUIfly Nordic (Copenhagen, Göteborg, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm)
SATA International (Lisbon, Porto)

[edit] Cargo

Air Sirin (Dakar)

[edit] Former Airlines operated in (SID/GVAC)

[edit] List

ISLAND	CITY/TOWN	ICAO	IATA	AIRPORT NAME
Boa Vista	Rabil	GVBA	BVC	Rabil Airport
Fogo	São Filipe	GVSF	SFL	São Filipe Airport
Maio	Vila do Maio	GVMA	MMO	Maio Airport
Sal	Espargos	GVAC	SID	Amilcar Cabral International Airport
Santiago	Praia	GVNP	RAI	Praia International Airport
Santo Antão	Ponta do Sol	GVAN	NTO	Ponta do sol Airport
São Nicolau	Preguiça	GVSN	SNE	Preguiça Airport
São Vicente	São Pedro	GVSV	VXE	São Pedro Airport