Dakar int'l airport: passenger traffic already exceeds pre-COVID-1 figures
In its forecasts, Dakar Blaise International Airport (AIBD) is aiming for a 25% growth in 2022, compared to its performance in 2019. The facility seems to be on the right track, given its achievements in the first half of the year.
Dakar Blaise International Airport has turned the page on the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of passenger traffic. Indeed, according to figures published on Thursday 18 August 2022, the platform of the Senegalese capital welcomed 1,185,453 travellers in the first half of the current year, an increase of 1% compared to 2019. Like passenger transport, all other indicators are up. The increase is 98% for freight, which reached 18,786,155 tonnes of goods during the first six months of this year. The number of flights is 12,833, an increase of 92% compared to 2019. AIBD is connected to 45 domestic, regional and international destinations through 28 airlines. This return to the performance of 2019 confirms the recovery that began in the first quarter of 2022. At that time, passenger traffic was at 90% of that of the last pre-pandemic year, while freight was at 101%, and aircraft movements at 95.4%.
"The recovery of traffic should continue for the end of this year," says the airport. For 2022 as a whole, it is aiming for 25% year-on-year growth. However, it is not impossible that this forecast will be altered in the second half of the year due to the risk of a shortage of aviation fuel in the sub-region. This shortage, which is a consequence of the international situation, could lead to an increase in the price of air tickets, and consequently discourage a certain class of travellers, notably European tourists, a major contributor to the GDP of the national tourism sector.
