Cape Verde - Transportation

There are about 1,100 km (683 mi) of all types of roadway on the islands, of which some 858 km (533 mi) are paved in 2002. In 1997, Cape Verde had 30 vehicles per 1,000 population. Commercial transportation is largely by coastal craft and domestic airlines. The ports of Mindelo on Sao Vicente and Porto Novo on Santo Antao are important as international fueling stops. The state-owned Companhia Nacional de Navigacao runs an interisland ferry service. As of 2002, the merchant fleet of Cape Verde consisted of four ships of 1,000 GRT or over, totaling 5,395 GRT. In November 1990, the IBRD announced the complete rehabilitation of two deepwater berths at Praia Port, which can now provide modern cargo handling techniques.

In 1975, the international airport on Sal was renamed the Amilcar Cabral International Airport, in honor of the former nationalist leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. It is an important refueling point on many African flights with the second longest runway in Africa. In 2001, 242,800 passengers embarked or disembarked at Amicar Cabral. There are smaller airports on seven islands. In 2001 there were 9 airports total (with 3 airports reported to be non operational), and six of which had paved runways. A new airport is under construction in Praia and will accommodate midsized jet aircraft.The national airline is Air Transport of Cape Verde, which began service to Lisbon in 1985 and Boston in 1987.