Blaise Diagne International Airport Guide

Blaise Diagne International Airport, known locally as AIBD, opened in December 2017 on the outskirts of Diass in Thiès Region, replacing the former Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in central Dakar, which had become too constrained for growth. The site was chosen to allow long-term expansion and is served by a single 3,500-metre runway capable of handling wide-body aircraft including the A380.

The airport is operated under a 25-year build-operate-transfer concession by LAS SA, a joint venture of Turkish construction groups Limak and Summa alongside the government-linked AIBD SA. Phase one was designed for a capacity of 3 million passengers annually, with a second terminal and additional runway planned under Phase two to push capacity toward 10 million by 2035. In 2024, the airport handled approximately 2.9 million passengers, a 12% increase on 2023, and has won the ACI Best Airport in West Africa award for three consecutive years.

Air Senegal uses AIBD as its primary hub, operating international routes across Africa and beyond. European carriers including Air France, Brussels Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, and Turkish Airlines fly direct to Dakar. A regional rail link, the Train Express Regional, connects the airport corridor to central Dakar, with a direct station extension to the terminal planned for the second half of 2025.