A four-hour flight from Europe, the Cape Verde archipelago offers visitors mountainous volcanic landscapes, golden beaches, marine wildlife sanctuaries and its rich crioula (creole) a blend of its Portuguese past and African roots. The dry, warm climate means that the attractions of these Atlantic islands that together form Africa’s most westerly country can be enjoyed all year round. In 2019, Cape Verde welcomed 758,000 tourists with its traditional morabeza (a creole term meaning hospitality, friendliness), a figure that has steadily increased over the past two decades from 28,000 visitors in 1995, and has established itself as a destination for sustainable and nature-based tourism.

To meet this growing demand, several years ago the country began to expand and modernise its airports. Ineco first started working in the archipelago in 2003 and since then has continued to provide services to the national company Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea, ASA (see ITRANSPORTE 50 and 61). Currently, the network consists of four international airports –Sal, Praia, São Vicente and Boavista– and three airports for domestic traffic, São Nicolau, Maio and Fogo. For the São Filipe aerodrome, Ineco is carrying out a study of flight procedures for the implementation of night operations.

In early March 2021, it also presented the technical feasibility study prepared for ASA on a new international airport on the island of Santo Antão, at an event held in the capital, Porto Novo, attended by the country’s top officials.

The fifth international airport, in Santo Antão

In total, the Cape Verdean territory, with just over 530,000 inhabitants, is made up of 15 islands and islets: 10 large ones (one of which, Santa Luzia, is uninhabited) and five smaller ones. All of them have at least one seaport and ferry lines, which together with domestic flights provide internal mobility. International airports are the main gateway for foreign tourism, which in 2019 contributed 28.6% of gross domestic product.

The Ineco report concludes that the construction of a new airport in Santo Antão is feasible and proposes that it be located in Ponta do Morro Preto, seven kilometres from Porto Novo

The second largest island by area, after Santiago (where Praia airport is located), is Santo Antão, which is 779 km² and the third most populated island, with more than 40,000 inhabitants. In 2003, the island’s only aerodrome, located in the north with a small runway of less than 600 metres, ceased operating for operational and safety reasons, meaning that its connections are now limited to the ferry line to neighbouring São Vicente. Despite this, its spectacular mountain scenery attracted more than 42,000 tourists in 2019, according to Cape Verde’s Directorate General of Tourism, a 20% increase on the previous year.

In 2016, the government, through ASA, launched preliminary studies for the construction of a new airport near Porto Novo, the island’s capital and home to a quarter of the population. On 5 March, the city hosted the presentation of the conclusions of the technical feasibility study prepared by Ineco, which was attended by the Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, the Minister of Tourism, Carlos Santos, and other Cape Verdean authorities and public and private entities.

After mapping the area and analysing four possible locations, the winds, as well as taking into account the mountainous terrain of the island and the obstacles to aircraft operations, the Ineco report concludes that the construction of the airport is feasible. After considering several criteria, the proposed location is the Ponta do Morro Preto area, seven kilometres from Porto Novo. This area was selected as the most suitable because of its proximity to the city, which would make it more convenient for future passengers, and because it would require less earthworks than the other options, making construction cheaper and easier.

The runway is expected to be 1,400 metres long, which could be extended to 2,000 metres, suitable for the medium-sized aircraft that make up the fleet of the airlines that will operate at the new airport. In order to determine the runway orientation, which is essential to ensure safe operations, a detailed analysis of the data collected over the last four years by the weather station, which was installed in the area in 2017, has been carried out. In this way, it has been established that the predominant winds are east-southeast, which dictates the orientation of the runway for the approach maneuvers, the most delicate, and the take-off.

The Ineco study also includes an analysis of the tourist demand that the new airport would generate, using the Spanish islands of La Gomera and El Hierro as a benchmark. Following the confirmation of the technical feasibility of the project, a ‘road map’ of the next steps was presented: the completion of a preliminary flight procedures study, the preparation of a Master Plan including location alternatives, a demand study and a cost-benefit analysis, a Strategic Environmental Assessment, and finally, construction and operation authorisations.

The Mexican airports of Guadalajara, Tijuana, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Guanajuato, Hermosillo, La Paz, Mexicali, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Los Mochis and Manzanillo, all operated by GAP (the Pacific Airport Group), have just updated their Master Plans to 2034. Ineco first began preparing these plans, which are structured in three five-year phases, in 2003, for the periods 2005-2019, 2010-2024 and 2015-2029.

Growing aviation market

In an aviation market as dynamic as that of Mexico, it is essential to adjust plans to anticipated levels of demand.

In the last five years alone, Mexican air traffic has skyrocketed –with year-on-year growth of more than 10% until 2019, when it grew by 8.4%– due to several factors: the 35% drop in ticket prices due to the trade war between airlines, the drop in fuel prices, the signing of 23 bilateral transport agreements in just four years and the strength of tourism. Within this context, GAP operates five of the 10 busiest airports in the country, with the list topped by Mexico City, with 50.3 million passengers in 2019, and Cancun, with 25.5 million. The Guadalajara airport, with 14.8 million passengers, is in third place.

Air traffic growth at all GAP airports over the past five years, at 12%, is higher than the national average (8%), which is attributable to several factors: the saturation of the international airport in the capital, Mexico City (AICM), which has benefited Guadalajara airport, the cross-border effect at Tijuana airport, and the increase in tourism at the Rivera Nayarit and La Paz airports, which has benefited the Puerto Vallarta and La Paz airports.

Guadalajara is the largest airport, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos the most touristic and Tijuana is the main gateway to the US

1 Guadalajara

The Guadalajara International Airport is the third most important in the country and is located in the state of Jalisco. Guadalajara is an important commercial, industrial and tourist centre. In line with the Master Plan, the main actions to be carried out in the coming years will be the construction of a second runway and a new terminal with its associated commercial apron. An increase in the capacity of the general aviation apron and the parking and access facilities is also proposed.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

2 Tijuana 

General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport is located in Baja California, adjacent to the US border. Passengers departing from San Diego (USA) use the Cross Border Xpress (CBX), which allows them to cross the border without leaving the airport. The Tijuana Plan is currently underway, which includes the construction of a new processing building and the joining of the Alfa and Eco taxiways. The Master Plan aims, within the first five years, to reconfigure and expand the aircraft stands, as well as the security control area in the terminal building, and to reserve an area for cargo, in particular for CBX-Cargo. For the second five-year period, the construction of Dock C and a new control tower.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

3 Los Cabos 

The airport serves the Los Cabos area –comprised of the municipalities of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas– currently one of the most important tourist destinations in the country. 70% of the traffic is international. Among the key actions, the Master Plan proposes, in the short term, to expand the commercial and general aprons, as well as the terminal buildings. For the second five-year period, land is being reserved in the medium term for the construction of a future second runway.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

4 Puerto Vallarta 

Located in the state of Jalisco, 7.5 kilometres northwest of the city of Puerto Vallarta. The main proposal of the Master Plan is the construction of a new terminal building with an associated apron, parking lots and roads, as well as a reform of the current terminal building.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

5 Guanajuato

Located in the municipality of Silao (Guanajuato). With 2.7 million passengers in 2019, Guanajuato is the fifth largest city within GAP. In the last five years, average growth has been spectacular, at 15.5%, above the average of 12.1% for GAP. Commercial traffic is mostly domestic. The proposed development includes an expansion in several phases of different areas of the terminal building (departures, arrivals, baggage claim, new boarding gates), as well as the parking aprons (commercial and general aviation).

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

6 Hermosillo 

The airport is located in the municipality of Hermosillo, in the state of Sonora. It serves as an alternate airport to Tijuana. The main development proposals include the enlargement and reconfiguration, over several phases, of the stands on the general aviation apron and, in the short term, of the passenger and baggage claim areas. Also, the control tower is to be renovated, although it does not need to be relocated.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

7 La Paz

The General Manuel Márquez de León International Airport is located in the state of Baja California Sur. Almost 100% of passenger traffic and commercial operations are domestic. The Master Plan recommends, among other actions, the enlargement of customs, phytosanitary and documentation controls, in the short term; or, in the medium term, of the terminal building, the final waiting room and baggage claim.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

8 Mexicali

The General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada International Airport is located in the state of Baja California, about 6.5 kilometres from the US border. Short-term development proposals include increasing the number of documentation counters, installing an X-ray machine and remodelling the general aviation building.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

9 Morelia

The airport is located 30 kilometres from the city of Morelia, in the north of the state of Michoacán. Following an analysis of demand, it was concluded that the airfield has sufficient capacity for the entire reference period. In the short term, proposed actions include, among others, the expansion of the general aviation apron, as well as the areas for document control, boarding and baggage claim rooms.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

10 Aguascalientes

The Licenciado Jesús Terán Peredo International Airport is located 24 kilometres south of the city of Aguascalientes. Over the last five years, the average annual growth rate of commercial passengers has been 13.9%, well above the figures reported for the entire group. Among the actions of the Master Plan, it is worth highlighting that during the first five years, the commercial and general aprons were enlarged and remodelled, as well as the passenger area, in particular for baggage claim and document control, and some repairs were made to the beacon in the control tower.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

11 Los Mochis

The Valle del Fuerte International Airport, or Los Mochis, is located in the state of Sinaloa. Its traffic is almost 100% domestic. The proximity of the airports of Hermosillo and Culiacán –both state capitals– results in competition that affects primarily the development of international traffic. As for the Master Plan, it proposes the remodeling and expansion of the south-west and south-east facades of the existing terminal building, the expansion of the general aviation apron and the reconfiguration of the current seating arrangements.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

12 Manzanillo 

Also known as Playa de Oro, it is located in the west of the state of Colima. The distribution of commercial passengers is very balanced: 55% of the traffic is domestic and 45% international. No need to increase the capacity of the runway and the commercial aviation apron over the entire time frame of the study was identified. For the terminal building, the expansion and remodeling of the medical clinics, security controls, waiting room and baggage claim area are proposed.

PHOTO_INECO + GAP

GAP passenger growth 2019 vs 2018

SOURCE_GAP FORECASTS AS OF JANUARY 2020