Nelson Mandela International Airport

ICAO GVNP14.9411°N 23.4847°W70 m / 230 ftLarge airport

Nelson Mandela International Airport (IATA: RAI, ICAO: GVNP) is a large airport in Praia, Sotavento Islands, Cape Verde. It opened on 6 Oct 2005. It has one runway, 2,100 m (6,890 ft) long, asphalt. It is operated by Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea. In 2024 it handled 670 thousand passengers.

Timeline

1 event · 2005–2005

06 OCT 2005

OpenedNelson Mandela International Airport opens.

From WikidataEvery airfield, 1903–2026

Runways & airfield

Schematic · N · © OpenStreetMap

03/21022° / 202°

LENGTH2,100 m6,890 ftWIDTH45 m148 ftSURFACEAsphalt

Passengers per year

2013–2024

505K

523K

497K

523K

662K

637K

649K

210K

331K

519K

602K

670K

131415161718192021222324

Routes

12 destinations · 8 countries

Year-round6

DSSBlaise Diagne International AirportSenegal · Asky Airlines, Air Senegal, Transair (Senegal)690 km429 mi PDLJoão Paulo II AirportPortugal · Azores Airlines2,545 km1,581 mi CMNMohammed V International AirportMorocco · Royal Air Maroc2,600 km1,616 mi LFWLomé–Tokoin International AirportTogo · Asky Airlines2,872 km1,785 mi LISLisbon Humberto Delgado AirportPortugal · easyJet, TAP Air Portugal3,000 km1,864 mi OPOFrancisco de Sá Carneiro AirportPortugal · easyJet, TAP Air Portugal3,255 km2,023 mi

Seasonal6

MRSMarseille Provence AirportFrance · Transavia France4,177 km2,595 mi LYSLyon Saint-Exupéry AirportFrance · Transavia France4,339 km2,696 mi ORYParis-Orly AirportFrance · Transavia France4,435 km2,756 mi ZRHZürich AirportSwitzerland · Edelweiss Air4,664 km2,898 mi LUXLuxembourg-Findel International AirportLuxembourg · Luxair4,699 km2,920 mi AMSAmsterdam Airport SchipholNetherlands · Transavia France4,846 km3,011 mi

Most destinationsTransavia France 4Asky Airlines 2easyJet 2TAP Air Portugal 2Air Senegal 1Transair (Senegal) 1

Straight lines are great circles; rings mark true distance from RAI. Dashed: seasonal or charter. From the Wikipedia article “Nelson Mandela International Airport” (revision of 19 Aug 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Records & rankings

Ranked among 48,011 open airports · world · region · country

Passengers670K (2024)1 · FEWER1 · FEWERMEDIAN · 64KMEDIAN · 64KMORE · 103MMORE · 103M#985of 3,974 · #60 Africa · #2 CV Longest runway2,100 m6,890 ft46 m · SHORT150 ft · SHORTMEDIAN · 975 mMEDIAN · 3,200 ftLONG · 5,300 mLONG · 17,388 ft=3,582of 29,823 · =412 Africa · =2 CV Elevation70 m230 ft-386 m · LOW-1,266 ft · LOWMEDIAN · 240 mMEDIAN · 787 ftHIGH · 4,938 mHIGH · 16,200 ft=33,089of 43,341 · =2,740 Africa · #3 CV AgeOpened 20052026 · NEWEST2026 · NEWESTMEDIAN · 1976MEDIAN · 1976OLDEST · 1902OLDEST · 1902=12,087of 15,079 · =118 Africa · #5 CV Runways11 · FEWER1 · FEWERMEDIAN · 1MEDIAN · 1MORE · 8MORE · 8=4,360of 29,943 · =176 Africa · =1 CV

Scale: share of airports ranked below, best on the right · ties shown as = and a band · passengers are each airport’s latest year on record

Radio frequencies

2 channels

APPPRAIA APP118.200

TWRPRAIA TWR118.200