The Minister in charge of Transport, Roland Somda, at the head of a delegation, was at Bobo-Dioulasso international airport on April 18, 2023. Objective, to inquire about the level of progress of the rehabilitation works which will have to allow this airport to operate 24 hours a day very soon.
It was around 9:30 a.m. that the Air Burkina plane landed on the tarmac of Bobo-Dioulasso international airport with the Minister in charge of Transport, Roland Somda and his delegation on board. They are welcomed by the first managers of the airport and the first vice-president of the special delegation of the Hauts-Bassins region. After a few minutes of discussion, it’s time for the visit. Roland Somda wants to inquire about the state of progress of the rehabilitation works of the international airport of Bobo-Dioulasso, initiated within the framework of the process of the economic revival of the Hauts-Bassins region.
The visit begins with the ministerial and presidential lounges. This is followed by, among other things, the boarding, check-in and immigration halls. It was then the turn of the tarmac, the fire station and the freight shed to welcome our visitors for the day. In the latter place, mangoes are being packaged in order to export them from Bobo airport. In this regard, Roland Somda maintains that a first batch of 47 tonnes has already been exported.
Work still in progress
The rehabilitation works are still in progress and their level of advancement pleases the Minister who affirms that “we are satisfied with the state of progress of the works at this stage”. With this rehabilitation, Roland Somda has faith that the development of the economic capital of Burkina Faso will experience a boom. The goal, according to him, is also to achieve certification of this airport within one year.
To achieve this, Dr. Hyacinthe Compaoré, Director General of the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) specifies that airport infrastructures must comply with ICAO standards, which guarantee safety during their use. Burkina was able to certify Ouaga airport and the next challenge is Bobo, by the first quarter of 2024.
Bobo airport will operate 24 hours a day
On April 20, the official opening of Bobo airport will be launched in H24, that is to say that it will be operational 24 hours a day. 48 hours from this launch, Ibrahim Koné, manager of the international airports of Ouaga and Bobo, ensures that “everything is ready to start on April 20”. He specifies that there is a security study which was carried out beforehand in order to be able to open this airport 24 hours a day and recruitments to reinforce the workforce for example have been made. In this dynamic, as long as the request is made by the air transport companies, international flights will be able to land directly at the international airport of Bobo-Dioulasso.
“We can no longer do half measures”
The work currently underway at the international airport of Bobo-Dioulasso “is only a logical continuation of the promises of the authorities of the transition”, maintains Mahamadou Barry, first vice-president of the special regional delegation of Hauts-Bassins. He asks the government to always move forward, because there will be no question of stopping halfway because you have to achieve excellence in order to be able to attract companies to this airport. “We can no longer do half measures,” he said.
It should be noted that with regard to the rehabilitation work, we were able to observe a change in the appearance of the buildings. The paint has been redone and inside these, renovations are also underway to make this airport more modern. Safety equipment will be installed at the level of the VIP lounge, confided to us the managers of the premises, who add that the last renovation of the airport dates from 2010.
Abdoul-Karim Etienne SANON
