Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport

Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport^[5] (IATA: CKY, ICAO: GUCY), also known as Gbessia International Airport, is an airport serving Conakry, capital of the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. It parallels the south shore of the Kaloum Peninsula approximately five kilometers from its tip. Autoroute Fidel Castro connects the airport to Conakry proper.

Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport Aéroport international Ahmed Sékou Touré
IATA: CKY ICAO: GUCY
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	SOGEAC
Serves	Conakry, Guinea
Opened	1945 (1945)
Elevation AMSL	72 ft / 22 m
Coordinates	09°34′36.80″N 13°36′43.06″W / 9.5768889°N 13.6119611°W / 9.5768889; -13.6119611
Website	aeroportdeconakry.com
Map
CKY Location of Airport in Guinea
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 06/24 3,300 10,827 Asphalt
Statistics (2012)
Passengers 360,007
Stats^[1]^[2] GCM^[3] SkyVector^[4]

Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport control tower in 2022

The Conakry VOR/DME (Ident: GIA) and Conakry NDB (Ident: CY) are located on the field.^[6][7]

History

The airport was built in 1945.^[2]

In the 1970s, Soviet Naval Aviation was granted facilities at the airport to serve as a staging base for Atlantic maritime reconnaissance patrols by Tu-95RTs aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

It was reported in 1975 that most of the Guinean air force's aircraft were based at Conakry-Gbessia Airport.^[8] Current air force operations are conducted out of the Conakry-Gbessia Airport.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, with a goal to increase annual passenger capacity to 1 million passengers, renovations began on the main terminal. Renovation costs amounted to 60 billion GNF (Around 85 million EUR).^[9] The government debated in 2007 whether to relocate the Conakry Airport to Forecariah, although no official changes have been declared, as of 2011.^[10] Traditionally, passengers embarked on all flights directly on the tarmac with transfers to the airport either by foot (most inter West African flights) or by buses for all European flights. The new renovations included gateways and an improved passenger departure lounge. As of January 2011, no changes have been made to the arrivals (customs and luggage carousels). The airport, as of 2012, has 360,000+ passengers per year.^[1]

On 13 December 2022, the Guinean State becomes 100% owner of SOGEAC, by acquiring 49% of the shares held by Aéroports De Paris (ADP), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bordeaux (CCIB) within the Conakry Airport Management and Exploitation Company (SOGEAC).^[11]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air Côte d'Ivoire	Abidjan,^[12] Bissau,^[13] Monrovia–Roberts
Air France	Bamako, Nouakchott, Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Senegal	Dakar–Diass^[14]
ASKY Airlines	Bamako, Lomé^[15]
Brussels Airlines	Brussels,^[16] Dakar–Diass
Emirates^1	Dubai–International
Ethiopian Airlines	Abidjan, Addis Ababa,^[17] Ouagadougou^[18]
Mauritania Airlines	Dakar–Diass, Nouakchott
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca
Transair	Dakar–Diass
Tunisair	Dakar–Diass, Tunis^[19]
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul,^[20] Ouagadougou^[21]

Notes

^1 : Emirates' flight to Dubai–International from Conakry makes an initial stop in Dakar, but the flight Dubai–International to Conakry is nonstop. Emirates does not have fifth freedom rights on the Dakar to Conakry sector.

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at CKY airport. See Wikidata query.

Incidents and Accidents

•  

  On 3 September 1978, an Air Guinee Ilyushin Il-18 from Moscow to Conakry crashed into marshland near Conakry. 15 of the total 17 occupants were killed. One crewmember and one passenger survived. The aircraft was destroyed.^[22]

• On 1 July 1983, a Chosonminhang (predecessor to Air Koryo) Ilyushin Il-62M on a non-scheduled international passenger flight from Pyongyang Sunan International Airport to Conakry via Kabul and Cairo crashed at the Fouta Djallon Mountains in Guinea. All 17 passengers and 6 crew on board were killed, and the aircraft was written off.^[23]

• On 19 November 2000, a Ghana Airways McDonnell Douglas DC-9 from Kotoka International Airport (in Accra) via Abidjan, Monrovia and Freetown with 42 passengers and 8 crew performed a gear-up landing in Conakry. The plane was written off.^[24]

• In 2007, a Guinean Air Force MiG-21 departing from Conakry crashed into the Radio Télévision Guinéenne headquarters. The Russian pilot ejected and was unharmed.^[25]

• On 28 July 2010, a Mauritania Airways Boeing 737 leased from Tunisair operating from Dakar to Conakry with 91 passengers and 6 crew overran the end of the runway in heavy rain. There were no fatalities, but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.^[26]

• On 2 September 2022, engine 2 of TAP Air Portugal Flight 1492, an Airbus A320-251N, struck a motorcycle that crossed runway 24 during the plane's landing roll. Both riders on the motorcycle perished; however, no one on board the plane was injured. Engine 2 of the plane was damaged from the collision.^[27]

See also

• Transport in Guinea
• List of airports in Guinea

References

1. "About Conakry International Airport". Routes Online. UBM plc. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
2. "Presentation:Conakry International Airport". SOGEAC. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
3. Airport information for Conakry Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
4. "Conakry Airport". SkyVector. SkyVector Aeronautical Charts. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
5. "L'aéroport de Conakry (re)baptisé Aéroport international Ahmed Sékou Touré !". Mediaguinee.org (in French). 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
6. "Conakry VOR-DME (GIA) @ OurAirports". ourairports.com. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
7. "Conakry NDB (CY) @ OurAirports". ourairports.com. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
8. Harold D. Nelson, Area Handbook for Guinea, Department of the Army Pamphlet 550-174, 1975, p.333
9. Info-Guinée : mountmane 26 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Mountmane.hautetfort.com. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
10. Conakry : Haro sur les bouchons ! | Jeuneafrique.com – le premier site d'information et d'actualité sur l'Afrique. Jeuneafrique.com (5 April 2012). Retrieved 27 June 2012.
11. "L'Etat guinéen désormais 100 % propriétaire de l'aéroport international AST". Loupeguinee (in French). 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
12. "Air Côte d'Ivoire adds new sectors from April 2017". Retrieved 22 March 2017.
13. "Air Cote d'Ivoire Regional Service Adjustments From July 2023". Retrieved 18 April 2024.
14. "Destinations". flyairsenegal.com.}
15. "ASKY AIRLINES". www.flyasky.com. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
16. "Brussels Airlines vaker naar Afrika en VS dankzij extra Airbus A330". 14 December 2021.
17. "Ethiopian resumes Conakry service from Feb 2017". routesonline. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
18. "Ethiopian Airlines NS23 West Africa Routing Changes – 29DEC22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
19. Liu, Jim (3 March 2017). "Tunisair adds Conakry / Dakar service from late-March 2017". Routes Online. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
20. "Istanbul's New Airport Is A Hot Beautiful Mess". One Mile at a Time. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
21. "Turkish Airlines launches a new route to Conakry". Aviate World. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
22. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-18D 3X-GAX Conakry".
23. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-62M 889 Labé".
24. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 9G-ADY Conakry Airport (CKY)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
25. [Crash of a Mig 21 on the RTG in Conakry]. Pan African News Agency (in French). Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
26. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-7L9 (WL) TS-IEA Conakry International Airport (CKY)".
27. "Accident: TAP A20N at Conakry on Sep 2nd 2022, hits motorbike on landing". avherald.com. Retrieved 4 September 2022.

External links

• OpenStreetMap - Conakry
• Google Maps - Conakry Airport
• Accident history for Conakry Airport at Aviation Safety Network
• Conakry Airport Website