Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport
Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport Aéroport International Léopold Sédar Senghor | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / Military | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Dakar | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Yoff, Senegal | ||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Sénégal Airlines | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 85 ft / 26 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 14°44′22″N 017°29′24″W / 14.73944°N 17.49000°W | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www.aeroportdakar.com | ||||||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2009) | |||||||||||||||
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Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport (Template:Lang-fr[1]) (IATA: DKR, ICAO: GOOY) 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 (Template:Lang-fr) until 9 October 1996,[1] 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.[4]
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".[5]
Construction of a replacement airport 45 km 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.[6]
History
During World War II, Dakar Airport was a key link in the United States Army Air Forces 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.[7]
Before the introduction of long-range jets in the mid-1970s, 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.[8]
It used to be one of the five main hubs of the now defunct multi-national airline, Air Afrique.[citation needed]
The airport has often been used as a stopover on flights between North America and Southern Africa. 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. South African Airways used Dakar as a stopover with both its flights from Johannesburg to Washington and New York. The stopover for the New York-JFK flight has recently been removed, it is now a non-stop from Johannesburg to New York-JFK, operated by an Airbus A340-600. The Johannesburg to Washington-IAD flight still stops in Dakar, with that flight being South African Airways' service to Senegal, and West Africa as a region.
Other facilities
The head office of Sénégal Airlines is located on the airport property.[9] The head office of Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal is also on the airport property.[10]
At one time Air Sénégal International had its head office on the grounds of the airport.[11]
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.[citation needed]
Airlines and destinations
Cargo airlines
Statistics
| Year | Total passengers | Change | Cargo (in tonnes) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001[14] | 1,279,028 | 23,387 | ||
| 2002[14] | 1,358,538 | +6,2%  |
16,953 | -38,0% 
|
| 2003[14] | 1,482,726 | +9,1% |
17,051 | +0,6%
|
| 2004[14] | 1,566,573 | +5,7% |
21,159 | +24,1%
|
| 2005[14] | 1,605,010 | +2,5% |
24,795 | +17,2%
|
| 2006[15] | 1,676,881 | +4,5% |
22,032 | -12,5%
|
| 2007[16] | 1,821,956 | +8,7% |
24,771 | +12,4%
|
| 2008[4] | 1,802,559 | -1,1% |
21,789 | -13,7%
|
| 2009[4] | 1,554,546 | -13.8% |
21,572 | -1.0%
|
| 2010[17] | 1,687,006 | +8,5% |
24,112 | +11,8%
|
Aircraft at Leopold Sedar Senghor International size to aircraft such as the Airbus A340-600 from South African Airways, and the Boeing 777-200 from Air France.
Accidents and incidents
- On 29 August 1960, Air France Flight 343 crashed while attempting to land at Dakar-Yoff Airport. All 63 passengers and crew on board were killed.[18]
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ a b c Template:Fr icon Aéroport International Léopold Sédar Senghor, official website
- ^ Airport information for GOOY from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
- ^ Airport information for DKR at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
- ^ a b c "Rapport de la Situation Economique et Sociale (Ed. 2009)" (pdf) (in French). Agence Nationale de la statistique et de la démographie. 6 January 2011. p. 167. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ Smith, Patrick. "Ask the Pilot," Salon. 25 May 2007.
- ^ http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/wade-lays-foundation-for-new-airport-1.321881
- ^ Map of worldwide routes of Air Transport Command, September 1945
- ^ "Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) Sites: Banjul, Gambia". John F. Kennedy Space Center. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ Mentions Légales." Sénégal Airlines. Retrieved on 27 January 2011. "'GROUPE AIR SENEGAL, Société Anonyme avec conseil d’administration au capital de 16.500.000.000 FCFA, opérant sous la dénomination commerciale « SENEGAL AIRLINES », sise Aéroport Léopold Sédar SENGHOR BP 38265 – DAKAR YOFF (SENEGAL), immatriculée au RCCM de Dakar sous le n° SN DKR 2009 B 11310, NINEA 40694662G3, représentée aux fins des présentes par Edgardo BADIALI, Directeur Général."
- ^ "Accueil." Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Sénégal. Retrieved on 27 January 2011. "BP : 8184 AEROPORT LEOPOLD SEDAR SENGHOR DAKAR-YOFF"
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines." Flight International. 12–18 March 2002. 63.
- ^ "Vueling operará siete nuevas rutas desde Barcelona en verano, entre ellas, a Jerez de la Frontera". 20 Minutos. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- ^ Emirates SkyCargo Schedule
- ^ a b c d e "Situation Economique et Sociale de la Région de Dakar (Édition 2005)" (pdf) (in French). Agence Nationale de la statistique et de la démographie. p. 140. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ "Situation Economique et Sociale de la Région de Dakar (Édition 2006)" (pdf) (in French). Agence Nationale de la statistique et de la démographie. October 2007. pp. 219–220. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ "Situation Economique et Sociale (Édition 2008)" (pdf) (in French). Agence Nationale de la statistique et de la démographie. November 2009. p. 148. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ "Situation Economique et Sociale (Édition 2010)" (pdf) (in French). Agence Nationale de la statistique et de la démographie. December 2011. p. 228. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
Les mouvements de passagers ont aussi crû de 8,5 %, passant de 1 554 546 en 2009 à 1 687 006 passagers en 2010. [...] Le fret a également progressé de 21 572 tonnes en 2009 à 24 112 en 2010, soit un accroissement de 11,8%
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|quote=at position 139 (help) - ^ Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation F-BHBC Dakar-Yoff Airport
External links
- Current weather for GOOY at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for DKR at Aviation Safety Network
- 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)