Increase in passenger traffic at Cape Verdean airports
Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) - Cape Verde's airports handled nearly 2.8 million passengers in 2019, a new historical record for air traffic in Cape Verde, PANA learned on Wednesday from an official source.
According to information from a bulletin published by the National Airports and Air Safety Company (ASA), the increase was driven by the growth of international traffic, despite the decline in domestic movements.
Last year, Cape Verde's airports handled a total of 2,771,931 passengers, an increase of 2.6 per cent over the same period in 2018, thanks to growth in international traffic, which reached 7.3 per cent.
In contrast, domestic passenger movements decreased by 7.2 per cent, corresponding to 63,557 fewer passengers in one year.
The decline in domestic routes is explained by the departure of the state-owned airline TACV from domestic flights when it was privatized in March and transformed into Cabo Verde Airlines (CVA), which focuses on international flights.
Until last August when some domestic flights were taken over by CVA, services between the Cape Verde islands were operated exclusively by the private company, Binter.
Overall, the number of passengers handled by Cape Verde's airports increased by 69,699, from a record 2,702,232 in 2018.
ASA also recorded 35,202 aircraft movements in 2019, an increase of 1,125 movements (3.3%) compared to the same period of the previous year, influenced by the increase in international aircraft movements, which rose by 10.8%.
On domestic routes, air traffic decreased by 4.4% compared to 2018.
Cape Verde has four international airports on the islands of Santiago, Sal, Boa Vista and São Vicente, and three aerodromes on the islands of São Nicolau, Maio and Fogo.
All airport infrastructure is operated by ASA, a company wholly owned by the Cape Verdean State and which, since 2014, holds 100 % of the share capital of CV Handling SA.
In the meantime, the Cape Verdean government has already announced its intention to move ahead later this year with the airport public service concession process, which will involve the privatisation of airport management, with air navigation remaining a public responsibility.
According to the Minister of State in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Fernando Elísio Freire, the objective of the concession is to increase the number of passengers, the number of aircraft and to allow the transformation of Cape Verde into an air traffic hub and a free trade zone as well as the promotion of business tourism.
The government has presented Cape Verde as a country that can and has all the conditions to be an air traffic hub, in addition to being a free trade zone and promoting business tourism, said the minister.
-0- PANA CS/IZ/CJB/BEH/MTA/VAO 13Feb2020
