Air Transport Introduction Cape Verde has scheduled international air access fromEurope (Amsterdam, Bergamo, Lisbon, Milan, Munich, Paris,Porto and Rome), the Canary Islands (Las Palmas), Brasil(Fortaleza), Angola (Luanda), Guinea Bissau (Bissau), Senegal(Dakar), Sao Tome and the USA (Boston). There is an “openskies” policy with Portugal, the USA and ECOWAS countries.Bilateral agreements are in place with Algeria, Angola, Brasil,Cuba, Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Romania, Russia,Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Zambia. There aredomestic air services to the main inhabited islands. Amilcar Cabral International Airport on Sal was Cape Verde's only international airport until October 2005, when PraiaInternational Airport opened to international flights.

Passengers by Type of Flight Analysis of the number of passengers on international(scheduled, charter and transit) and domestic flights in 2004 is given the following table. It can be seen that 52% ofpassengers were on domestic flights between the islands. Ofpassengers on international flights, the vast majority (67%)were arrivals and departures on scheduled flights, 31% weretransit passengers and 2% were on charter flights.

Airlines The vast majority of international services are operatedby TACV, the state owned airline. The second majorscheduled airline is TAP, which operates a daily scheduledservice from Lisbon. TACV also has the monopoly ondomestic scheduled air services, which it operates with 19to 46 seat propeller driven planes. Other major airlinesserving Cape Verde include Air Senegal, Air Angola, CaboVerde Express (local charter airline), Condor (Germany),Czech Airlines (Czech Republic), Euro Atlantic (Portugal),Hapagfly (Germany), Hamburg International (Germany),Livingston (formerly Lauda Air Italy) and Neos (Italy).

Amilcar Cabral International Airport, Sal: as stated,until September 2005, this was Cape Verde's onlyinternational airport and it remains the major airport forinternational flights. The new air traffic control centreopened in 2004 and there is further investment in satellitenavigation systems.There is a three phased programme forthe ongoing upgrading of the airport with completion of each phase by the end of 2006, 2013 and 2023 respectively.

Praia International Airport, Santiago: the first phase ofthe upgrading of the airport was completed in September 2005, several years behind schedule. A second phase ofdevelopment is scheduled. The objective is to developPraia and Sal as dual hub airports. The growth forecast forthe new airport envisaged over 474,000 passengers afterfive years (compared with 270,000 passengers in2005). The only scheduled airline currently serving Praia is TACV.

Boa Vista International Airport: the first phase ofexpansion and upgrading of the airport is scheduled forcompletion by the end of 2006. Following completion of thefirst phase, the airport is intended to serve internationalcharter flights from Europe. Initially the airport will only beequipped to handle day flights, with equipment to handlenight flights included in the second phase (2012),with a “fuel farm” installation and other facilities includedin a subsequent phase. Total passengers (arrivals anddepartures) handled at the airport are forecast to growto at least 129,000 by 2010 (38,000 in 2005). However,future growth will be dependent on the capacityof accommodation developed.

Sao Vicente International Airport: the expansion andupgrading of the airport is also scheduled for completionby the end of 2006. The airport will be equipped to handleday and night flights. The airport is also intended to serveinternational charter flights from Europe.

Future Outlook As stated, Cape Verde is investing in upgrading andexpanding its airport capacity to enable increased airservices to follow. The success of developing additionalcapacity on existing routes and attracting new routes will,to a large extent, be demand led as new touristaccommodation capacity is realised. This is the reportedexperience following the opening of the 500 room RiuClub Hotel Funana on Sal in autumn of 2005. The greatestincrease is reported to have been in arrivals on charterflights and further increases are planned. For exampleLivingston and Hapagfly are each adding an additionalweekly flight from Germany, and Astraeus isstarting charter flights in November 2006 from LondonGatwick and Manchester. TACV is also reported to beconsidering new routes. Some international scheduledairlines have expressed interest in services to Praia, butnothing has been decided.

Other Transport Cape Verde's major sea ports are on Santiago (Praia),Sal (Palmeira) and Sao Vicente (Mindelo). Passenger ferryservices operate between the islands but journey times arelong. Initiatives to introduce high speed ferries have failedbecause at times adverse sea conditions disruptedschedules and operations.RoadRoad conditions vary considerably. On Sal Island there isa good quality dual carriageway road linking Santa Maria, themain resort area, to the international airport. By contrast, onSantiago Island, the 72 km journey from Praia (the capital)to Tarrafal (the bay in the north with the island's best beach)takes over two hours. There is investment in road upgradingand new roads. For example, work is progressing on the ringroad around Praia and this will significantly improve accessto the international airport and two major integrated resortdevelopments (Santiago Golf Resort and Sambala Resort)