Cadjehoun Airport
Cardinal Bernadin Gantin International Airport is an airport in the Cadjehoun neighborhood of Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, in West Africa. The airport is the largest in the country, and the primary entry point into the country by air, with flights to Africa and Europe.
The airport was renamed after cardinal Bernardin Gantin in 2021.
Accidents and incidents
- UTA Flight 141: On 25 December 2003, the airplane crashed in the Bight of Benin, killing 141 of the 163 occupants, most of them Lebanese.
Replacement
In 1974, it was decided to move the operations of the Cotonou international airport to a new facility in Glo-Djigbé. Lack of funding quickly stopped the project.The plans were revived in 2011, and President Yayi Boni presided at a ceremonial start to the construction of the new airport, using South African funding. Construction on the new facility appears to have stalled again.
Meanwhile, improvements to the Cotonou airport were initiated.