Abandoned airports in Cape Verde

Santo Antao, Agostinho Neto Airport

The island of Santo Antao has no longer an airport and until now can only be reached by ferry. From the island of Sao Vicente you are within an hour by boat on Santo Antao. In the past there was the airport Agostinho Neto Airport (GVA), only it was closed in the 90’s for security reasons. The airport was located on the northernmost part of Santo Antao near the city of Ponta do Sol. The runway and the old control tower can still be seen at the sea side. The airport is closed for several reasons. The location of the runway is a major challenge for pilots. Due to the strong wind – which also changes in strength and direction – landing and take-off is complex. Secondly, it is a short runway of only 650 meters. Therefore larger planes could not land there anyway and there was only little space for smaller planes. In addition, a TACV plane crashed into a mountain on Santo Antao on 7 August 1999 because landing was not possible due to the wind. All 18 occupants were killed.

If you want to visit the Agostinho Neto Airport, go to the town of Ponta do Sol and walk towards the coast. At the small lighthouse you can see an old runway. You can climb over the small fence and get a closer look at the runway.

Currently there is an advanced plan to open an airport again. A new airport near Ponte Sul, west of Porto Novo. According to the plan, there will be a runway of 2,000 meters long.

Fogo, Mosteiros Airport

In the northeast of the island of Fogo is the abandoned airport Mosteiros Airport (MTI). The airfield was operational from about 1957 to the end of the 1990s and the runway was unpaved. The runway was fairly dangerous and has been closed in favour of the current Sao Filipe Airport (SFL) on Fogo.

The only remnant of the airport is a long dirt road that used to be the runway but is now used by the locals for other activities such as sports. It is located 2 kilometers north of Mosteiros and can be easily reached on foot (or by car).

Brava, Esperadinha Airport

About four kilometers west of Nova Sintra – the capital of the island of Brava – lies the village of Fajã de Agua and the former airport Esperadinha Airport (BVR). The paved runway was opened in 1992 but was closed again in 2004 because of dangerous winds for the aircraft. Esperadinha airport was mainly a connecting point for airplanes to the neighbouring islands of Fogo and Santiago.

Cape Verde airports

Every inhabited island of Cape Verde historically has had an airport. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not always taken into account in the past, so a number of them were closed. Nowadays, 7 of the 9 inhabited Cape Verde islands have an operational airport, 4 of which are international airports. View the next page with an overview of all operational airports in Cape Verde.