The airport in Africa that served 2m passengers now overshadowed by new £465m hub

A huge airport in West once served two million passengers a year before being overshadowed by a new, much larger, international hub that cost £456million to build.

Léopold Sédar Senghor International in the Senegalese capital Dakar had formerly been the country’s flagship , but had long struggled with traffic congestion due to being located in the crowded capital.

Named after the country’s first President, who was also a renowned poet and writer, the airport had once been where the country offered grand introductions to world leaders, rolling out the red carpet across the tarmac for the likes of former US President George Bush and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But in time, authorities decided it was time to upsize from the 800-hectare site to somewhere further out, with better access for travellers.

In late 2017, Senegal opened its new international airport, Airport International Blaise-Diagne (AIBD) in a bid to become one of the region’s most important travel hubs. 

Built more than 24 miles east of the capital, the airport is five times the size of its predecessor and welcomed over 2.9million passengers last year.

When it was built, authorities set the goal of raising IABD’s capacity to 10 million per year, as it looks to establish the site as one of the highest-capacity airports on the continent.

Blaise Diagne took over services from services from Senghor International, which was handed over to Senegal’s army, and served exclusively as a military base for over six years.

Senghor now operates as an international freight airport, but is set to reopen its doors to civilian traffic on January15, 2024, as per .

With a 4,500-hectare, the old airport’s successor as the country’s main aerodrome boasts a larger terminal and with space for runways to support far more visitors to the country.

When it opened, El Hadji Beye, a civil engineer specializing in West Africa told that the new site is “definitely a state-of-the-art infrastructure project”.

“The new facility’s increased size can accommodate larger planes like the Airbus A380 and will handle much more air traffic than before,” he added.