Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou Airport (IATA: OUA, ICAO: DFFD), officially Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou, is an international airport in the center of the capital city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. It was built in the 1960s, and it is approximately 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) southeast of the main commercial area. The site itself is approximately 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) in length, 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) in width at its narrowest point, and covers an area of approximately 4.26 km2 (1,050 acres). Its runway is 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) long. When the airport was built it was on the southern boundary of the city. Ouagadougou has since experienced rapid urbanization and the airport is now surrounded by urban development.[2]
Ouagadougou Airport Aéroport International Thomas Sankara Ouagadougou | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||
| Serves | Ouagadougou | ||
| Location | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | ||
| Hub for | Air Burkina | ||
| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±00:00) | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,037 ft / 316 m | ||
| Coordinates | 12°21′11″N 01°30′44″W / 12.35306°N 1.51222°W | ||
| Website | www | ||
| Map | |||
OUA Location of the airport in Burkina Faso | |||
| Runways | |||
| Statistics (2020) | |||
| |||
Source Statistic.[1] | |||
Besides having outgrown its capacity constraints, Ouagadougou Airport is a source of pollution and risk. The government has plans for a new airport 30 km north of the capital.[2][3]
In addition to civilian traffic, the airport has a military sector.[4]
Ouagadougou Airport handles about 98% of all scheduled commercial air traffic in Burkina Faso. Air Burkina and Air France handle about 60% of scheduled passenger traffic. Between 2005 and 2011, air passenger traffic at Ouagadougou airport grew at an average annual rate of 7.0%, reaching about 404,726 passengers in 2011 and was estimated to reach 850,000 by 2025.
In 2007 it was the 15th busiest airport in West Africa in passenger volume, just ahead of Port Harcourt (Nigeria) and behind Banjul (Gambia).
The total air cargo grew 71% from 4,350 tons in 2005 to about 7,448 tons in 2009.[5]
Airlines and destinations edit
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Algérie | Algiers |
| Air Burkina | Abidjan, Accra, Bamako, Bobo-Dioulasso, Cotonou, Dakar–Diass, Lomé, Niamey |
| Air Cairo | Cairo, Dakar–Diass[6] |
| Air Côte d'Ivoire | Abidjan |
| Air France | Accra, Paris–Charles de Gaulle (both suspended until 1 April 2024)[7] |
| Air Senegal | Dakar–Diass[8] |
| ASKY Airlines | Conakry,[9] Lomé, Niamey |
| Brussels Airlines | Brussels[10] |
| Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa, Conakry,[11] Freetown (begins 31 May 2024),[12] Niamey (ends 31 May 2024)[13][12] |
| Kangala Air Express | Bobo-Dioulasso, Niamey[14] |
| Royal Air Maroc | Casablanca |
| Tunisair | Abidjan, Tunis |
| Turkish Airlines | Conakry,[15] Freetown,[16] Istanbul[17] |
Statistics edit
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Military use edit
The United States military uses the military side of the airport as the hub of its airborne intelligence operations for much of Western Africa.
The surveillance operations are carried out mainly with small, unarmed turboprop aircraft disguised as private planes, but full of surveillance equipment. The U.S. spy planes fly hundreds of kilometres north to Mali, Mauritania and the Sahara, where they search for Al-Qaida fighters from the Maghreb. The planes refuel on isolated airstrips favored by African bush pilots, extending their effective flight range by thousands of kilometres.
Ouagadougou is the most important of the approximately dozen air bases that the U.S. established in Africa since 2007.[4]
Plans for a new airport edit
The government plans to close the current airport upon construction of the Ouagadougou-Donsin Airport, approximately 35 km (22 mi) northeast of Ouagadougou near the village of Donsin. It was originally expected to be completed around 2018, and the government of Burkina Faso has an $85 million loan from the World Bank to help finance the construction.[3][5] The government of Burkina Faso believed that the project would cost $618 million.[2] The expected date of opening has been pushed back to December 2021.[18]
The first phase of construction of the new airport was planned for a five-year period beginning in 2013 and finishing in 2018. This phase will focus on the construction of infrastructure that is required to move the operations from Ouagadougou to Donsin. The plans call for a single runway 3,500 m (11,500 ft) long, which is 500 m (1,600 ft) longer than the one at the current airport, with an option to extend to 4,000 m (13,000 ft). Generally 3,000 m (9,800 ft) is sufficient to land virtually any aircraft at sea level, but longer runways are helpful for heavily loaded cargo planes. Space for a second runway and its accompanying infrastructure has been reserved for when growth in air traffic warrants it.[2]
A second expansion phase is planned for 2026–2030 to meet projected increases in demand. At this stage, however, the government of Burkina Faso is seeking investors only for Phase 1.
Accidents and incidents edit
- On September 17, 2013, a standing ATR 72-202 (EC-LNP) of Colombe Air Line leased from Helitt Lineas Aereas was substantially damaged when a heavy thunderstorm passed over the airport, with winds up to 44 knots (50.6 mph) being registered at 20:00. The plane was written off.[19]
References edit
- ^ "ANNUAIRE STATISTIQUE 2020" [Yearly Statistics 2020] (PDF; 1.608 KB). insd.bf (in French). Institut national de la statistique et de la démographie (INSD). p. 256. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d (PDF). Embassy of Burkina Faso in New Delhi. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ a b "New Ouagadougou-Donsin Airport, Burkina Faso". Egis Group. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ a b Whitlock, Craig (13 June 2012). "U.S. expands secret intelligence operations in Africa". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Project Information Document (PID), Burkina Faso Donsin Transport Infrastructure Project". 12 March 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/231018-smdec23ouadss
- ^ "Destinations". airfrance.com.
- ^ "Destinations". flyairsenegal.com.
- ^ "Asky Airlines files Guinea network from December 2018".
- ^ "Brussels Airlines vaker naar Afrika en VS dankzij extra Airbus A330 | Luchtvaartnieuws". 14 December 2021.
- ^ "Ethiopian Airlines NS23 West Africa Routing Changes – 29DEC22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Ethiopian Airlines Adds Freetown From June 2024: West Africa Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Ethiopian consolidates Niamey / Ouagadougou service from Oct 2017". Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ https://kangala-airexpress.com/vol_program
- ^ https://aviateworld.com/news/airline-news/turkish-airlines-launches-a-new-route-to-conakry/[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Turkish Airlines adds Freetown service from Feb 2018". Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ "Istanbul New Airport Transition Delayed Until April 5, 2019 (At The Earliest)". 9 April 2019.
- ^ "Ouagadougou-Donsin Airport".
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident ATR 72-202 EC-LNP Ouagadougou Airport (OUA)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
External links edit
Media related to Ouagadougou Airport at Wikimedia Commons