Nelson Mandela International Airport

Nelson Mandela International Airport (GVNP) is a large airport in Praia, S, Cape Verde. Pilots and dispatchers reference it by ICAO code GVNP or IATA code RAI. It sits in Africa.

Nelson Mandela International Airport is a commercial-airline hub that also handles a steady stream of private and corporate traffic. Mixed commercial and private operations mean planners should expect slot coordination, handling agent involvement, and the usual international hub procedures.

Nelson Mandela International Airport sits near sea level at 230 ft.

Local operations run on Atlantic/Cape_Verde. Because the field hosts scheduled airline operations, private operators should expect a defined slot environment, possible CDM coordination at peak banks, and limited ramp availability during major event weekends. Booking FBO ramp space in advance is normal practice.

SkyAccess inventory for GVNP updates continuously as operators publish new empty legs and one-way repositioning trips. Pricing on each leg is available with a free account, and an inventory alert will email you the moment a leg appears on the route you care about.

As one of the larger fields in Cape Verde, GVNP tends to be the natural choice for long-range international charters and crew-rest-required flights.

Francisco Mendes International Airport was an airport located on Santiago Island in Cape Verde. It was opened in 1961. It was located about 2 km (1.2 mi) east of central Praia in the southeastern part of the island of Santiago. After Cape Verdean independence, the airport was named after Francisco Mendes, a Guinea-Bissau independence activist and that country's first Prime Minister.