Africa’s Favourite Airports

HowzitMSN Africa looks at 7 of the continent’s favourite airports, from the award winning Cape Town International to Ethiopia’s small but promising Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

The third busiest airport in South Africa Cape Town International is widely considered the best on the continent.  Earlier in 2012, Cape Town International was awarded the Best Airport in Africa by the Airports Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) global awards. Between November 2011 and January 2012 the airport saw that 9.2 million passengers pass through.

Cairo International Airport is the second busiest airport on the continent after OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. In 2011, despite a global decrease in tourism due to the tough economic climate, the airport served 13.0 million passengers. The airport has four terminals.

Murtala Muhammed International Airport is the major airport servicing Lagos and Nigeria. The airport’s latest stats, from 2009, showed that it serviced more than 5 million passengers. The airport has been the site of several disasters though, most recently in june this year, when 157 passengers were killed on Dana Air Flight 992.

Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the biggest airport in East and Central Africa. The latest passenger statistics for the airport, from 2010, showed that it served almost 5.5 million passengers that year. In 2011 construction was started on a second runway, that will see the airport double its capacity.

The airport of choice for the majority of airlines flying in to West Africa, Accra Kotoka Airport saw a passenger throughput of almost 1.5million in 2010. The airport has two passenger terminals. The most recent accident at the airport happened in June 2012, with an Allied Air Boeing 727 cargo aircraft overshooting the runway and killing 12 people on the ground.

Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa Bole International Airport is one of Africa’s busier airports, with passenger traffic of almost 3.5million in 2010. Bole has one of the longest runways in Africa and can currently accommodate more than 15 flights per day.

Source:Omg