Airport type Public Serves Bissau, Guinea-Bissau 03/21 3,200 Address Bissau, Guinea-Bissau Elevation 39 m | Operator N/A Elevation AMSL 39 m / 129 ft 3,200 10,499 Code OXB Phone +55 67 99297-1409 | |
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Similar Casa Emanuel, Rádio Sol Mansi, US Liaison Office, TAP ‑ Transport Aereos d, Hotel Azaalai ‑ 24 des S | ||
Osvaldo Vieira International Airport (IATA: OXB, ICAO: GGOV) is the only international airport in Guinea-Bissau, located in the capital city Bissau.
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History
Previously known as Bissalanca, during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence 1963–1974 it was used as a base by the Portuguese Air Force.
The airport had to be closed on June 7, 1998 due to intense fighting in and around Bissau. It was officially reopened in July 1999 when a TAP Portugal plane carrying Prime Minister Francisco Fadul, along with numerous other dignitaries from both Portugal and Guinea-Bissau, landed at Osvaldo Vieira.
On December 10, 2013, TAP Portugal suspended operations to Osvaldo Vieira International Airport after local police forces threatened the crew of Flight TP202 bound for Lisbon and forced the crew to board 74 Syrian refugees who had arrived in Bissau via Morocco and Turkey, and who were holding forged Turkish passports. After TAP Portugal suspended flights to Bissau in late 2013, the airport remained without flights to Lisbon until late October 2014, when euroAtlantic Airways announced a weekly flight between Bissau and Lisbon. However, TAP announced in August 2016 to resume flights to Bissau by the end of the year.
Facilities
Osvaldo Vieira International Airport has one runway, heading 03/21, with a length of 3,200 metres (10,500 feet). The altitude of this runway is 39 m (128 ft). This runway is also one of the three in Guinea-Bissau that are paved.
Airlines and destinations
Airlines that have served the airport in the past include Air Afrique, Air France, Aeroflot, Cubana, Air Sénégal International, Air Bissau, Gambia Bird, TAAG, Halcyonair and Mauritania Airlines International.