![\"The](\"http:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/171114180247-gettyimages-862501356-exlarge-169.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\n
November 19, 2017<\/p>\n
Story highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- Senegal’s largest airport opens in December 2017<\/li>\n
- Decade-long construction process suffered several setbacks<\/li>\n
- Airport is part of wide-ranging development program<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\nThe largest airport in Senegal will open its doors on December 7, after more than a decade of development and delays.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBlaise Diagne International (AIBD) will have initial capacity for three million passengers per year, rising to 10 million per year, making it one of the highest-capacity airports in Africa.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBlaise Diagne will take over services from Senegal’s current flagship airport L\u00e9opold S\u00e9dar Senghor International in capital city Dakar, which will cease operations.<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\u00a0The $575 million megaproject is envisioned as the centerpiece of an ambitious new development program.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n \n\n![\"View](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/C-f6wjTUQAEPKJK.jpg:large\" "\\"View")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n
\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/680031943405207552\/PPy8AFvK_normal.png\")
<\/span>Africa Visual Data<\/span> @AfroVisualData<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBreathing space<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nThe new airport is based in rural Diass, around 40 kilometers east of Dakar.\u00a0The remote location offers more space for the project than the crowded capital, where the existing airport has been affected by heavy traffic congestion.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nBlaise Diagne occupies a 4,500-hectare site compared with 800 hectares at L\u00e9opold S\u00e9dar Senghor. The new airport also boasts a larger terminal and runways that can accommodate more passengers and flights.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“The AIBD airport is definitely a state-of-the-art infrastructure project,” says El Hadji Beye, a civil engineer specializing in West Africa. “The new facility’s increased size can accommodate larger planes like the Airbus A380 and will handle much more air traffic than before.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe AIBD development team expects<\/a> Blaise Diagne to become a primary hub of the West Africa region and a “preferred stopover point for air traffic in Africa, Europe and the Americas.”<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Dakar's](\"http:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/171114174324-dakar-international-exlarge-169.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\nDakar’s existing international airport has been affected by heavy traffic congestion.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nDakar dependency<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
The new airport is also intended to diversify an economy that has become reliant on the capital.<\/div>\nDakar accounts for half of Senegal’s urban population and around 55% of GDP, according to the World Bank,<\/a> and it is growing fast.<\/div>\n“The idea is to see if we could drag economic activities out of Dakar,” says AIBD Deputy Director General El Hadji Ibrahima Man\u00e9, “New infrastructure is essential to this (ambition).”<\/div>\nBlaise Diagne is to be the centerpiece of an “airport city,” says Mane. French firm Lagard\u00e8re Travel Retail has been contracted<\/a> to operate 1,000 square meters of duty-free stores on the site, and the AIBD team are planning for commercial development of the surrounding area including hotels, malls, restaurants and business facilities.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nCNN<\/p>\n