Sal International Airport
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Amílcar Cabral International Airport Aeroporto Internacional Amílcar Cabral |
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Aeroportos Seguranca Aera (ASA) | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Espargos | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Sal, Cape Verde | ||||||||||||||
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| Elevation AMSL | 54 m / 177 ft | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 16°44′33″N 022°56′53″W / 16.74250°N 22.94806°WCoordinates: 16°44′33″N 022°56′53″W / 16.74250°N 22.94806°W | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www.asa.cv. | ||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2011) | |||||||||||||||
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Sources: World Aero Data
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| Passengers | 576,323 |
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Amílcar Cabral International Airport (IATA: SID, ICAO: GVAC), also known as Sal International Airport or Amílcar Cabral Airport, is the principal international airport of Cabo Verde. The airport is named after the revolutionary leader Amílcar Cabral. It is located two km west-southwest from Espargos on Sal Island. Sal was the main hub for the national airline, TACV; now it serves as a base for carriers Cabo Verde Express, and Halcyonair.
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. One of the airport's architects for the terminal and its facilties was engineer Raul Pires Ferreira Chaves who was Public Works for Cape Verde. The first flight, an arrival from Rome and Seville, was on 15 December 1939. Not longer after in 1940, the project was stopped due to Italy's involvement in World War II. 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.
Between 1960 and 1967 Sal was a stop of the Voo da amizade (Friendship Flight), a dedicated service between Brazil and Portugal. It was operated from 1960 to 1965 by Panair do Brasil and from 1965 to 1967 by TAP-Transportes Aéreos Portugueses and Varig. Only Brazilian and Portuguese citizens or foreigners with permanent residence in Brazil or Portugal could purchase tickets for those flights, which were extremely popular due to their low fares. At this time, Cape Verde was a Portuguese Overseas Province and therefore part of the territory of Portugal.
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