Osvaldo Vieira International Airport

Osvaldo Vieira International Airport (IATA: OXB, ICAO: GGOV), also known as Bissau-Bissalanca Airport, is an international airport that serves the city of Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, as well as the Metropolitan Region of Bissau. It is the only international airport in the country.[1]

Osvaldo Vieira
International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorN/A
ServesBissau, Guinea-Bissau
Elevation AMSL39 m / 129 ft
Coordinates11°53′42″N 15°39′13″W
Map
OXB
Location of airport in Guinea-Bissau
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 3,200 10,499 Asphalt

It is located in the Bissalanca district, in the city-sector of Safim, which is conurbated to Bissau.

Name

The name "Osvaldo Vieira" was given in honor of one of the most prominent nationalist commanders of the PAIGC and FARP during the country's war of independence.[1]

History

Before 1955, the city of Bissau depended mainly on Bolama airport (currently inactive), which was the colonial capital of Guinea until 1941. Until this time, the one who came to Bissau, after landing in Bolama, still needed to take a ferry to get there to the final destination.

The airport was opened in May 1955 receiving the name "Francisco Craveiro Lopes Airport", precisely during the visit of this Portuguese president. Despite its official name, it was generally called "Bissalanca Airport".[2]

Between 1961 and 1965, already during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence, it was transformed into Base Aerodrome No. 2 (AB2), and; between 1965 and 1974 at Air Base No. 12 (BA12), of the Portuguese Air Force.

The airport had to be closed on June 7, 1998 due to intense fighting in and around Bissau. It was officially reopened in July 1999 when a TAP Portugal plane carrying Prime Minister Francisco Fadul, along with numerous other dignitaries from both Portugal and Guinea-Bissau, landed at Osvaldo Vieira.[3]

On December 10, 2013, TAP Portugal suspended operations to Osvaldo Vieira International Airport after local police forces threatened the crew of Flight TP202 bound for Lisbon and forced the crew to board 74 Syrian refugees who had arrived in Bissau via Morocco and Turkey, and who were holding forged Turkish passports.[4] After TAP Portugal suspended flights to Bissau in late 2013, the airport remained without flights to Lisbon until late October 2014, when euroAtlantic Airways announced a weekly flight between Bissau and Lisbon.[5] However, TAP announced in August 2016 it would resume flights to Bissau by the end of the year.

Facilities

Osvaldo Vieira International Airport has one runway, heading 03/21, with a length of 3,200 metres (10,500 feet). The altitude of this runway is 39 m (128 ft). This runway is also one of the three in Guinea-Bissau that are paved.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
Air Senegal Banjul,[6] Dakar–Diass[7]
ASKY Airlines Conakry, Dakar–Diass, Lomé,[8] Praia
euroAtlantic Airways Lisbon
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon[9]
Transair Dakar–Diass, Praia
Air Guiné-Bissau Bubaque, Gabu

Airlines that have served the airport in the past include Air Afrique, Air France, Aeroflot, Cubana, Air Sénégal, Air Sénégal International, Air Bissau, Gambia Bird, TAAG, Halcyonair and Mauritania Airlines International.

See also

References
  1. Apresentação. Aeroporto Internacional de Bissau. 2019.
  2. Silva, António E. Duarte. Guiné-Bissau: a causa do nacionalismo e a fundação do PAIGC. Caderno de Estudos Africanos, 2006. p. 142-167.
  3. "List of airports in Guinea-Bissau". Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  4. Oliveira, Mariana; Henriques, Ana; Ribeiro, Nuno (2013-12-12). "SEF despista eventuais radicais entre sírios que entraram em Portugal com passaportes falsos" [Portugal's Foreigner and Frontier Service tracks eventual radicals among Syrians who entered the country with false passports]. Público (in Portuguese). Lisbon. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  5. "Portugal's euroAtlantic secures Guinea-Bissau contract". CH Aviation. Chur, Switzerland. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  6. Liu, Jim (17 October 2019). "Addendum: Air Senegal continues Africa network expansion in W19". routesonline.com.
  7. "Air Senegal outlines proposed regional network from late-Sep 2018". routesonline.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. "ASKY AIRLINES". Flyasky.com. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  9. "TAP – Air Portugal resumes flights to Guinea-Bissau". Macauhub.com.mo. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
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