Banjul International Airport

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Banjul International Airport
Banjul-aeroport.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
ServesBanjul
LocationBanjul, The Gambia
Elevation AMSL29 m / 95 ft
Coordinates13°20′16.66″N 16°39′07.94″W / 13.3379611°N 16.6522056°W / 13.3379611; -16.6522056Coordinates: 13°20′16.66″N 16°39′07.94″W / 13.3379611°N 16.6522056°W / 13.3379611; -16.6522056
Map
BJL is located in The Gambia
BJL
BJL
Location of airport in The Gambia
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 3,600 11,811 Asphalt

Banjul International Airport, also known as Yundum International (IATA: BJL, ICAO: GBYD), is the international airport of Banjul, capital of the Gambia, built during World War II.[1]

History[]

The only airport in Gambia is at Yundum. After World War II, Yundum airport was used for passenger flights. Both British South American Airways and the British Overseas Airways Corporation had services, the former moving its service to Dakar, which had a concrete runway (as opposed to pierced steel planking).[2] The airport was rebuilt in 1963 and the building is still in use today.

Overview[]

The head office of the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority is located on the airport property.[3]

In the event of an emergency on any of the NASA Space Shuttles, 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.[4][5] In 2001 NASA announced that Banjul airport would no longer be used as an augmented landing site because latterly, NASA would launch shuttles up at 51.6 degrees to the International Space Station, making air bases in Spain and France more suitable for an emergency landing.[6]

The airport was the main hub of Gambia Bird until the airline ceased operations in late 2014.

Airlines and destinations[]

AirlinesDestinations
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Senegal Bissau,[7] Dakar–Diass[8]
ASKY Airlines Accra, Freetown, Lomé, Monrovia–Roberts
Binter Canarias Gran Canaria
Brussels Airlines Brussels, Dakar–Diass
Corendon Dutch Airlines Seasonal: Amsterdam, Maastricht/Aachen[9]
Enter Air Seasonal charter: London-Gatwick[10]
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca
Smartwings Slovakia Seasonal charter: Bratislava[11]
Sunclass Airlines Seasonal charter: Copenhagen,[12] Helsinki,[13] Stockholm–Arlanda,[14] Oslo[15]
TAP Air Portugal Lisbon[16]
Transair Dakar–Diass, Freetown[17]
TUI Airways[18] Seasonal: London–Gatwick,[19] Manchester[19]
TUI fly Belgium Seasonal: Brussels
TUI fly Netherlands Amsterdam
Turkish Airlines Istanbul
Vueling Barcelona

Accidents and incidents[]

  • On 4 July 1946, a Bristol Freighter 170 with registration G-AHJB, flying from Bathurst (now Banjul) to Natal 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.[20]
  • 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 via Lisbon, Bathurst (Banjul)-Jeshwang, Natal, 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.[21][22][23]
  • On 10 October 1997, a Beechcraft 200 Super King Air[24] operated by NAYSA Aerotaxis[25] crashed on approach 3 miles before the runway. All but one of the ten occupants died.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Yundum". Britannica Online encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  2. ^ "West Africa (Hansard, 29 January 1947)". api.parliament.uk.
  3. ^ "APPLICATION FOR A FLIGHT PERMIT." (Archive) Gambia Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved on 28 January 2013. "THE GAMBIA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY BANJUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT P.O. BOX 285 BANJUL, THE GAMBIA"
  4. ^ "SPACE SHUTTLE EMERGENCY LANDING SITES". globalsecurity.org. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ Lacey, Marc (4 September 2005). "Memories Linger Where NASA Lights Shone in Gambia". The New York Times.
  7. ^ Liu, Jim (17 October 2019). "Addendum: Air Senegal continues Africa network expansion in W19". routesonline.com.
  8. ^ "Air Senegal EN » Arrivals and departures". flyairsenegal.com.
  9. ^ "Corendon". www.corendon.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Flight Information". gambia.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Bratislava airport introduces several new flights in its winter schedule". spectator.sme.sk.
  12. ^ "Flight". spies.dk.
  13. ^ "Flight". tjareborg.fi.
  14. ^ "Flight". ving.se.
  15. ^ "Flight". ving.no.
  16. ^ "TAP launches flights to Banjul, The Gambia, in October". 25 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Vol inaugural : Transair à la conquête de la Sierra Leone". dakaractu.com. 18 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Flight Timetable". tui.co.uk.
  19. ^ a b Liu, Jim (1 September 2020). "TUI Airways plans Banjul service from Nov 2020". Routesonline.
  20. ^ "Accident description G-AHJB". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  21. ^ "Accident description G-AHEW". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  22. ^ "23 Killed in Crash of Plane in Africa". Pittsburgh Press. 7 September 1946. p. 1.
  23. ^ B.S.A.A. York which crashed soon after take-off at night from Yundum airfield on September 7th, 1946, Access August 2011
  24. ^ Beechcraft 200 Super King Air
  25. ^ NAYSA Aerotaxis

External links[]

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