Amílcar Cabral International Airport

Amílcar Cabral International Airport (GVAC/SID) is the principal international gateway for Cape Verde, located on Sal Island in the eastern Atlantic and serving as the hub for the nation's scheduled airline network.

The airport sits at low elevation on the island, making it free of the hot-and-high performance penalties that affect mountain fields. Its longest runway supports scheduled widebody operations and is suitable for midsize and super-midsize business jets, as well as heavy-cabin aircraft including the Challenger 350 and Gulfstream G650 class. The field handles a steady mix of scheduled airline service alongside charter and fractional activity, positioning it as a natural routing point for transatlantic and Africa-bound private flights.

Sal Island has become a destination for leisure travel, and the airport's role as the primary entry point for the archipelago means that corporate and owner-flown traffic often connects through GVAC to reach resorts and secondary islands. The airport also maintains strategic importance as a refueling and crew-rest stop for long-range operations crossing the Atlantic between Europe, the Middle East, and West Africa.

The Atlantic location brings tropical weather patterns and occasional harmattan winds from the Sahara, but the airport's established infrastructure and instrument-approach capability make it a reliable alternate and planning waypoint for regional operations. The field is managed as a civil international airport with support for both scheduled and charter movements, making it a common stop for charter brokers routing clients to West African destinations or island retreats in the Cape Verde archipelago.

Amílcar Cabral International Airport, also known as Sal International Airport, is the main international airport of Cape Verde. The airport is named after the revolutionary leader Amílcar Cabral. It is located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west-southwest from Espargos on Sal Island. Sal is the main hub for the national airline, Cabo Verde Airlines; and serves as a base for carrier Cabo Verde Express. This airport was also one of NASA's locations for a facility to handle the Space Shuttle after reentering from orbit.