Benin: more than 555,000 passengers departing and arriving at Cotonou Airport in 2023

The Beninese sky experienced an increasing air movement in 2023. The General Directorate of the Budget in its “Execution report as of September 30 of the 2023 State budget management”, speaks of an increase of 24.60% compared to the same period in 2022.

Air navigation in Benin in 2023 has not been bland for the airlines serving Cotonou. Airport statistics at the end of December 2023 reveal 555,142 passengers in total compared to 457,510 recorded a year earlier. The number of arriving passengers is 270,676 in 2023 compared to 226,772 in 2022, an increase of 19.4%, according to the Benin Airports Company relayed in the Execution Report (Rapex) as of December 31 of the law of finances 2023 (Dgb, March 2024). Already the statistics at the end of September 2023 showed an overall growth of 24.60% in the number of passengers arriving and departing from Cotonou for the first half of 2023.

This improvement is notably attributable to the continued growth of business tourism in Benin. This is linked to the various monuments and major infrastructures built in the economic capital. The number of passengers arriving and departing from Cotonou recorded an increase of 21.3% in 2023. As for the number of departing passengers, it increased from 230,738 in 2022 to 284,466 in 2023, corresponding to an increase of 23.3% year-on-year, according to the same source.

This overall improvement in airport traffic is mainly driven by the continued growth of business tourism, linked to the various monuments and major infrastructures built in the economic capital, the report indicates. It crowns the repair work undertaken for several years by the government as part of bringing the Bernardin Cardinal Gantin international airport in Cadjèhoun in Cotonou up to standard. It was a question of overcoming the inadequacies likely to hamper the performance of the platform.

In addition to the work to bring the landing strip into compliance and resurfacing, work to extend the terminal at the departure and arrival levels has made it possible to increase fluidity at the airport. Added to this are the rehabilitation of the parking lot, the establishment of shops and a business center in the terminal, the automation and computerization of the terminal, all of which aims to attract previously reluctant airlines to frequent the airport. whose security has been improved. The aim is to reach at least 1 million passengers per year and to accommodate wide-body aircraft.