Banjul International Airport, also known as Yundum International , is the international airport of Banjul, capital of

the Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

The only airport in Gambia is at

Yundum Yundum is a small town in Gambia, south of the capital, Banjul. It is situated adjacent to the country's international airport. The only airport in Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gam ...

. After World War II, Yundum airport was used for passenger flights. Both British South American Airways and the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the pass ...

had services, the former moving its service to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

, which had a concrete runway (as opposed to pierced steel planking). The airport was rebuilt in 1963 and the building is still in use today. In February 2001,

Ghana Airways Ghana Airways Limited was the flag carrier of Ghana, with its main base of operation and hub at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. The airline ceased operations in 2004, although plans were discussed to revive it in 2020 in partnership wit ...

commenced a flight from Banjul to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, which originated in Accra. Cooperation among Ghana Airways, Gambia International Airlines, and the Ghanaian and Gambian governments gave rise to the service. In June 2006,

North American Airlines North American Airlines, Inc., was a United States airline with its headquarters at the HLH Building in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta, United States. Prior to May 2008, it operated scheduled international services from the U.S. to Af ...

inaugurated a link to Baltimore using Boeing 767s, but it lasted only seven months.

Overview

The head office of the

Gambia Civil Aviation Authority The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) is the civil aviation authority of The Gambia. The agency head office is located at Banjul International Airport in Banjul. It is an autonomous government body. It was established under the Public Enterpr ...

is located on the airport property. In the event of an emergency on any of the

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Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

s, Banjul International Airport had been selected as an augmented landing site. Gambia was the perfect location when the shuttle was launched with a low, 28-degree inclination. In 2001

announced that Banjul airport would no longer be used as an augmented landing site because future shuttle launches would take place at inclinations of up at 51.6 degrees to reach the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

, making air bases in Spain and France more suitable for an emergency landing. The airport was the main hub of Gambia Bird until the airline ceased operations in late 2014.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

* On 4 July 1946, a Bristol Freighter 170 with registration G-AHJB, flying from Bathurst (now Banjul) to

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

on a delivery flight to Argentina, experienced a fuel shortage that forced the crew to ditch the plane. The crewmembers were rescued by an American Steamer. The probable cause was powerplant failure resulting from shortage of fuel due to faulty navigation. No one died in the accident. * On 7 September 1946, a British South American Airways Avro 685 York I with registration G-AHEW, named "Star Leader", flying from London to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

via Lisbon, Bathurst (Banjul)-Jeshwang,

, Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont and Montevideo, lost control and crashed shortly after takeoff from Bathurst. The cause of the loss of control cannot be determined with certainty, but a mishandling of the controls by the captain is the most likely explanation. All 24 occupants died. * On 10 October 1997, a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air operated by NAYSA Aerotaxis crashed on approach 3 miles before the runway. All but one of the ten occupants died.

References

External links