Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport (IATA:ABJ,ICAO:DIAP), also known asPort Bouët Airport, is located 16 km (9 nmi; 10 mi) south east ofAbidjan,Ivory Coast.[1] It is the largest airport in the country for air traffic. The airport is the mainhub of the national airlineAir Côte d'Ivoire. Named after the first president of Ivory Coast,Félix Houphouët-Boigny, this international airport is directly connected currently to airports in Europe and to many destinations within the rest of Africa and the Middle East. The airport is served by 21 airlines, covering more than 30 destinations.
Concorde at Abidjan Airport, 1978Check-in areaDeparture gatesBusiness lounge
The airport is managed by Aeria, a private Ivorian company. It is also a strategic piece of infrastructure for both the delivery of military equipment and, in times of unrest, the evacuation of foreign nationals.
Air Afrique, which was based in Abidjan, ceased all flights in January 2002.[2] Disturbances that took place in Ivory Coast in the early 2000s had a negative impact on the airport. In November 2004, during theFrench–Ivorian clashes that occurred in Abidjan, the airport was looted and damaged. It was taken back by French troops and returned to the Ivorian government in the second half of November. The airport was later refurbished by the Ivorian government and modernized with new modern facilities.[citation needed]
On the night of 2 to 3 April 2011, the airport was again taken by the French troops in order to evacuate French nationals and foreigners, as the final assault against the presidential palace was announced, during thebattle for Abidjan.[3][4] After the civil war ended in April 2011, the airport was returned to the Ivorian government and development projects, paused for almost a decade, were restarted.[citation needed]
Following the gradual recovery of economic activities in Ivory Coast from 2012, investments and projects to increase the capacity of the airport, provided in March 2010,[5] are in the works since October 2011.[6]
In February 2012, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, president of Aeria's board of directors, indicated that he wanted to make the airport suitable for theAirbus A380.Air France did not deny that it could eventually use the A380 on the Paris-Abidjan route if there were sufficiently strong economic growth.[7]
On 4 May 2012,PROPARCO loans 10 billionCFA francs (15 millioneuros) to Aeria to fund a major expansion and modernization program for the airport. This loan is part of the renewal of Aeria's concession, effective 1 January 2010, for a period of 20 years. This concession provides investment programs in increments of five years. The first slice of 24 milliondollars, includes the renovation of the international terminal, the rehabilitation of thecharter terminal and development of new infrastructure.[8][9]
In addition, the refurbishment included an extension of the internationalterminal of a surface 11,000 to 26,000 m2 (120,000 to 280,000 sq ft), the refurbishment of the aircraft parking area, renovation of access roads and the construction of a new parking lot. The ultimate goal is to create a commercial zone next to the airport, with a lodging area, hangars, a convention center, a free zone, office buildings, warehouses, exhibition halls, a shopping center and housing for dedicated staff.[10] On 16 June 2012, theRadisson Hotels group announced the laying of the first stone of the Radisson Blu hotel on the airport grounds.[11] The Radisson Blu opened in the spring of 2016 and has over 200 rooms and suites, as well as a restaurant, outdoor pool and fitness center.[12][13] Also on the airport grounds, ONOMO Hotels operates a 118-room select-service property.[14] Both the ONOMO and the Radisson Blu are accessible from the passenger terminal via shuttle buses.
Ethiopian Airlines commenced direct flights to Newark aboard Boeing 787s in May 2018. The route was the product of negotiations between Ethiopian and the Ivorian government.[15][16] The company signed acodeshare agreement withAir Côte d'Ivoire to attract passengers.[17] Two months later, Ethiopian suspended its link to Newark because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[16] In June 2023, the carrier began service toNew York City.[18]
In January 2020, tens of thousands were left homeless as homes in Adjoufou, ashanty town near the airport, were demolished, officially for safety reasons. Residents said they were targeted because they are poor.[19]
Before the decade ofpolitical and military turmoil, the Felix-Houphouet-Boigny airport was among the most important in West Africa, with passenger traffic exceeding one million travelers in the late 1990s. The succession of political and military crises seriously affected the country's image and reduced the importance of the airport in the sub-region in terms of traffic; but in recent years, as stability and strong economic growth have returned, airport traffic has been growing at a fast pace, and is now at its highest ever. In 2023, the airport handled 2,331,917 passengers.[27]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
Annual passenger traffic at ABJ airport.SeeWikidata query.
12 July 1972: anItalian living in the Ivory Coast took his wife and son hostage and boarded an unknownUTA plane here, demanding to be flown toItaly. A gun battle broke out with police officers in which he shot and injured his wife; he was later apprehended. He was in a custody battle for his child due to marital issues.[39]
25 July 1977: aMBB HFB-320 Hansa Jet (5N-AMF) owned by Motor Parts Manuf. was on approach during an executive flight and struck the sea 500 m off of runway 03, killing all 3 occupants. The crew did not have aflight plan.[40]
3 January 1987: aVarigBoeing 707-379C registration PP-VJK operatingflight 797 from Abidjan toRio de Janeiro-Galeão crashed due to a failure on engine 1 shortly after take-off. While attempting to return to the airport for an emergency landing, it crashed on a field 18 km away from Abidjan's airport. Of the 51 passengers and crew aboard, a single passenger survived.[41][42]
15 January 1993: a Boeing 707-321C (YR-ABM) on cargo routeAir Afrique Flight 153 (Cotonou-Abidjan) undershot runway 21 by 30 m after anILS approach, causing the main landing gear to collapse. The plane was written off; all 6 occupants survived.[43]
26 June 1994: aFokker F-27 Friendship 400M (TU-TIP) on passenger routeAir Ivoire Flight 777 (San Pedro-Abidjan) crashed into a wooded area 3nm (3.45 miles) short of the runway at 19:40 with flaps and undercarriage still retracted, killing all 17 occupants.[44]
12 April 1997: aMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 (9G-ACM) on passenger routeGhana Airways Flight 560 (Accra-Abidjan) veered to the left and ran off the side of the runway on its second landing attempt in heavy rainfall and poor visibility, causing the undercarriage to collapse. The plane was written off; all 104 occupants survived.[45]
26 June 1998: aBeechcraft 200 Super King Air (ZS-MSL) of theUN leased from Federal Aviation crashed on approach fromLome at 19:45, killing all 7 occupants. The flight was executive.[46]
30 January 2000:Kenya Airwaysflight 431, crashed into the sea shortly after take-off from Port Bouet. Of the 179 passengers and crew on board theAirbus A310, only ten people survived.
14 October 2017: anAntonov An-26-100 (ER-AVB) on cargo route Valan International Cargo Charter Flight 26 (Ouagadougou-Abidjan) crashed in the sea on approach 0.8 km (0.5 miles) south of the airport, killing 4 of the 10 occupants. The crash was found to have been caused by underestimation of weather, lack of knowledge about Abidjan, and inadequate instrument monitoring.[47]
^La force française Licorne prend le contrôle de l'aéroport d'Abidjan –France 24
^Inquiétude pour la communauté française d'Abidjan –Le Monde Afrique
^Modernisation et extension de Aéria – Banzio pour le déguerpissement des populations –Le Temps sur Abidjan.net
^Inauguration de l'aérogare charter d'Abidjan, Soro rallume les réacteurs du développement –Nord-Sud sur Abidjan.net
^Air France, qui propose déjà sept vols hebdomadaires entre Paris et Abidjan opérés par des Boeing B777-200 et des B777-300, va augmenter de façon pérenne dès son programme d'été... –La Tribune
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Na escuridão da noite africana".O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928–1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 345–351.ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
Media related toFélix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport at Wikimedia Commons