Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport
Encyclopedia
Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport is an international airport
serving Dakar
, the capital of Senegal
. The airport is situated near the town of Yoff
, north of Dakar. It was known as Dakar Yoff International Airport until 9 October 1996, when it was renamed in honor of Léopold Sédar Senghor
, the first president of Senegal.
The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 747
jets. In 2009, the airport served about 1,500,000 passengers.
In 2007, Patrick Smith, author of the Ask the Pilot column for Salon.com
, called it the "World's Worst Airport", commenting that he found there "only squalor, an unnerving sense of confinement and to some extent danger".
Construction on a replacement airport
45km inland from Léopold Sédar Senghor has begun. Saudi Binladin Group is constructing the new airport, named after the first black African elected to France's parliament in 1914, Blaise Diagne
. It should take 30 months to build and have an initial capacity of 3 million passengers a year - almost double the 1.7 million annual traffic handled by the existing airport.
, Dakar Airport was a key link in the United States Army Air Force Air Transport Command
Natal
-Dakar air route, which provided a transoceanic link between Brazil
and French West Africa
after 1942. Massive amounts of cargo were stored at Dakar, which were then transported along the North African Cairo
-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. From Dakar, flights were made to Dakhla Airport
, near Villa Cisneros in what was then Spanish Sahara
, or to Atar Airport
, depending on the load on the air route. In addition to being the western terminus of the North African route, Dakar was the northern terminus for the South African route, which transported personnel to Pretoria
, South Africa
, with numerous stopovers at Robertsfield (now Roberts International Airport
), Liberia
, the Belgian Congo
and Northern Rhodesia
.
Before the introduction of long-range jets in the mid-70s, it used to be an important stopover point for the routes between Europe and South America, together with the Canary Islands.
The airport was a Space Shuttle
landing site until 1987, when it was determined that a dip in the runway could damage the shuttle upon landing.
It used to be one of the five main hubs of the now defunct multi-national airline, Air Afrique
.
Delta Air Lines
started service on December 4, 2006 between Atlanta and Johannesburg
, with an intermediate stop in Dakar
. This stopover has since been removed. It currently serves Dakar
nonstop from New York-JFK
.
is located on the airport property. The head office of Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal
is also on the airport property.
At one time Air Sénégal International
had its head office on the grounds of the airport.
The airport is also home to the French Air Force
's Dakar-Ouakam Air Base (Base aérienne Dakar-Ouakam; also known as Air Base 160, Base aérienne 160 Dakar-Ouakam). The Dakar-Ouakam Air Base forms the military section of the airport. In 2011 ETOM 00.055 will be disbanded and BA160 may become inactive.
International airport
An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...
serving Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, the capital of Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
. The airport is situated near the town of Yoff
Yoff
Yoff is a town part of the city of Dakar. It lies north of downtown Dakar and immediately north of Dakar Airport . The town is built along the broad beach at Yoff Bay...
, north of Dakar. It was known as Dakar Yoff International Airport until 9 October 1996, when it was renamed in honor of Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist who for two decades served as the first president of Senegal . Senghor was the first African elected as a member of the Académie française. Before independence, he founded the political party called the Senegalese...
, the first president of Senegal.
The airport can handle aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
jets. In 2009, the airport served about 1,500,000 passengers.
In 2007, Patrick Smith, author of the Ask the Pilot column for Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, called it the "World's Worst Airport", commenting that he found there "only squalor, an unnerving sense of confinement and to some extent danger".
Construction on a replacement airport
Blaise Diagne International Airport
The Blaise Diagne International Airport is an international airport under construction near the town of Ndiass, Senegal. It will serve as a new airport for Dakar, as the old Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport is becoming too small for future operations...
45km inland from Léopold Sédar Senghor has begun. Saudi Binladin Group is constructing the new airport, named after the first black African elected to France's parliament in 1914, Blaise Diagne
Blaise Diagne
Blaise Diagne was a French political leader, the first black African elected to the French National Assembly, and mayor of Dakar.- Background :...
. It should take 30 months to build and have an initial capacity of 3 million passengers a year - almost double the 1.7 million annual traffic handled by the existing airport.
History
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Dakar Airport was a key link in the United States Army Air Force Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command
Air Transport Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its mission was to meet the urgent demand for the speedy reinforcement of the United States' military bases worldwide during World War II, using an air supply system to supplement surface transport...
Natal
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte
-History:The northeastern tip of South America, Cabo São Roque, to the north of Natal and the closest point to Europe from Latin America, was first visited by European navigators in 1501, in the 1501–1502 Portuguese expedition led by Amerigo Vespucci, who named the spot after the saint of the day...
-Dakar air route, which provided a transoceanic link between Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
after 1942. Massive amounts of cargo were stored at Dakar, which were then transported along the North African Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel. From Dakar, flights were made to Dakhla Airport
Dakhla Airport
Dakhla Airport is an airport serving Dakhla , a city in Western Sahara.The airport is operated as a Moroccan airport, with public facilities managed by the Moroccan state-owned company ONDA....
, near Villa Cisneros in what was then Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...
, or to Atar Airport
Atar International Airport
Atar Airport or Atar International Airport is an airport serving Atar, a town in the Adrar Region of Mauritania.-World War II:During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Force Air Transport Command as a stopover for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel on the North...
, depending on the load on the air route. In addition to being the western terminus of the North African route, Dakar was the northern terminus for the South African route, which transported personnel to Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, with numerous stopovers at Robertsfield (now Roberts International Airport
Roberts International Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 5 March 1967: Varig flight 837, a Douglas DC-8-33 registration PP-PEA flying from Rome-Fiumicino to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão via Roberts International Airport, caught fire after a mistaken approach to Monrovia, missing the threshold of the runway by 6,023 ft...
), Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
and Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
.
Before the introduction of long-range jets in the mid-70s, it used to be an important stopover point for the routes between Europe and South America, together with the Canary Islands.
The airport was a Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
landing site until 1987, when it was determined that a dip in the runway could damage the shuttle upon landing.
It used to be one of the five main hubs of the now defunct multi-national airline, Air Afrique
Air Afrique
Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these countries did not have the capability to create and maintain a...
.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
started service on December 4, 2006 between Atlanta and Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, with an intermediate stop in Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
. This stopover has since been removed. It currently serves Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
nonstop from New York-JFK
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
.
Other facilities
The head office of Sénégal AirlinesSénégal Airlines
Groupe Air Sénégal, operating as Sénégal Airlines, is an airline with its head office on the property of Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal. It is a regional carrier operating a scheduled domestic network and regional flights to neighbouring countries...
is located on the airport property. The head office of Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal
Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal
Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal is the civil aviation agency of Senegal, with its head office on the property of Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar.-External links:*...
is also on the airport property.
At one time Air Sénégal International
Air Senegal International
Air Sénégal International was an airline with its head office in Dakar, Senegal. It was a regional carrier operating a scheduled domestic network and regional flights to neighbouring countries. It also operated charter and air taxi flights...
had its head office on the grounds of the airport.
The airport is also home to the French Air Force
French Air Force
The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...
's Dakar-Ouakam Air Base (Base aérienne Dakar-Ouakam; also known as Air Base 160, Base aérienne 160 Dakar-Ouakam). The Dakar-Ouakam Air Base forms the military section of the airport. In 2011 ETOM 00.055 will be disbanded and BA160 may become inactive.
Airlines and destinations
Charter
Cargo airlines
Statistics
| Year | Total passengers | Change | Cargo (in tonnes) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1,279,028 | 23,387 | ||
| 2002 | 1,358,538 | +6,2% | 16,953 | -38,0% |
| 2003 | 1,482,726 | +9,1% | 17,051 | +0,6% |
| 2004 | 1,566,573 | +5,7 | 21,159 | +24,1% |
| 2005 | 1,605,010 | +2,5% | 24,795 | +17,2% |
| 2006 | 1,676,881 | +4,5% | 22,032 | -12,5% |
| 2007 | 1,821,956 | +8,7% | 24,771 | +12,4% |
| 2008 | 1,802,559 | -1,1% | 21,789 | -13,7% |
| 2009 | 1,554,546 | -13.8% | 21,572 | -1.0% |
External links
- Air Base Profile from avions-militaires.net
- Profile in French from the French Ministry of Defense
- Dakar International Airport - Dakar International Airport unofficial website (english)