Nelson Mandela International Airport

Praia International Airport (IATA: RAI, ICAO: GVNP) is an airport on Santiago Island in Cape Verde. It was opened in late 2005, replacing the old Francisco Mendes International Airport.

Praia International Airport
IATA: RAI ICAO: GVNP
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Aeroportos Segurança Aérea (ASA)
Location	Praia, Cape Verde
Focus city for	Cabo Verde Airlines[1]
Elevation AMSL	70 m / 230 ft
Coordinates	14°55′27.12″N 23°29′38.04″W
Website	RAI Website
Map
RAI Location in Cape Verde
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 3/21 2,100 6,890 asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 662,356[2] Operations 11236[2] Metric tonnes of cargo 959[2]

It is about 3 kilometres northeast of central Praia in the southeastern part of Santiago Island. At the beginning of 2012, the airport was renamed after Nelson Mandela.^[3]

The first flight to the new airport was on October 23, 2005. Even though the airport serves the capital and largest city, Praia, Cape Verde's main international airport is Amílcar Cabral International Airport. This is on the smaller island of Sal.