What to Expect at Senegal’s New Airport, Blaise Diagne: Blaise Diagne International Airport is set to officially open on December 7. Construction on the new international airport and located close to the town of Diass in Senegal began almost a decade ago. Blaise Diagne will serve as a new airport for Dakar, as Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport is becoming too congested to facilitate future operations.
Blaise Diagne Airport location
4,500 hectares of land have been reserved for Blaise Diagne compared to 800 hectares occupied by Léopold Sédar Senghor Airport. Currently, the new airport structure occupies 2,500 hectares so there is potential to construct more structures in the future as needed. The airport is built to take up to an A380 and similar size aircraft.
Future of Dakar Airport (GOOY)
There has been no official statement from the Government as to the future of GOOY. However, ICAO and ASECNA signed a contract that stated no two commercial airports can coexist within 80NM of each other. Since Léopold Sédar Senghor and Blaise Diagne are within this limit, it is unlikely that there will be any commercial flight activity in GOOY. Also, catering and fuel companies are relocating to the new airport. So, it appears this airport might be closed for public use.
Ground Handling
In Dakar airport, there are two handlers- Aviation Handling Services (AHS) and Senegal Handling Services (SHS). These two companies will close down and their employees merged to create a new company AIBD Assistance Services (AAS). All of the equipment currently located in Dakar Airport will also be relocated to the new airport.
Blaise Diagne Terminal
The terminal sits on 42,500 square meters and will have the capacity to accommodate 3 million passengers annually, with future plans to extend capacity to 10 million per year once this milestone is achieved. There are 44 check-in counters for commercial flights and four conveyor belts. There will also be six air bridges for boarding and four entrances for embarking and disembarking by bus. There will also be a Hajj terminal but this will be open for commercial use when there are no Hajj operations.
GA facilities also include a VIP lounge that’s under construction, a Presidential Wing that also has a Presidential hangar and a dedicated cargo section with a cargo village to serve as a warehouse facility.
Accommodation
There are currently no hotels in this location. However, the neighboring cities (Saly, Ngaparou) have suitable accommodation for crew. There are 5-star hotels in Saly (The Rhino Resort Hotel & Spa and Lamantin beach hotel), located 30-40 minutes from the airport. There is currently another 5-star hotel under construction in the village and it is expected to be completed at the end of the year. The airport is also planning an Airport City within the airport where hotels will be built, so passengers who wish to remain within the airport can have the opportunity to do so.
Check the UAS Blog for Blaise Diagne International Airport Guide in the coming week.
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Mitch Launius
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Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
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Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
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Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
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