Flights to Cape Verde

If you love warm weather, then  Cape Verde Islands has become “one of the new favourite destinations amongst European travelers” and a great option for anyone looking for year-round sunshine, miles and miles of unspoiled white sandy beaches and a low-key, laid-back experience less than a six hour flight from most European countries, with no jet lag to worry about.

Cape Verde Islands have 4 International Airports:

• Amílcar Cabral International Airport (IATA Code: SID) in Sal Island
• Rabil Airport (IATA Code: BVC) in Boa Vista Island
• São Pedro Airport (IATA Code: VXE) in São Vicente – Cape Verde
• Francisco Mendes Airport (IATA Code: RAI) in Santiago Island

The two busiest airports for tourists are those located on the islands of Sal and Boa Vista where most of the flights to and from Europe operate. Sal is the island of the Cape Verde archipelago that is most developed for tourism.

Santiago Island Airport also gets some flights from Portugal, USA, Brazil and the African continent.

The other International Airport in the Island of São Vicente (inaugurated in December 22nd, 2009) is presently used mostly for internal flights

Direct Flights to Cape Verde from the UK

UK residents have various choices to get flights to Cape Verde Islands from the following UK airports:

Flights to SAL:

• Gatwick (Monday and Friday)
• Birmingham (Tuesday)
• Manchester (Wednesday)

Flights to BOA VISTA:

• Stansted (Tuesday)
• Gatwick (Thursday)
• Manchester (Friday)
• Bristol (Friday)

ThomsonFly has direct flights to Cape Verde to both Sal and Boa Vista Islands, while Thomas Cook also has Cape Verde flights but with a stop-over in Banjul – Gambia in one of the directions.

The other alternatives for British and other European travelers is to get a connecting flight to Lisbon and then go by TAP Air Portugal which is the airline with the most flights to Cape Verde. TAP has daily flights to Sal, 5 weekly flights to Bela Vista and once a week to Santiago Island.

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines also have many flights from Lisbon to Cape Verde, including 4 flights to Santiago Island, another 4 flights to Sal as well as direct flights from Boston, Paris and Amsterdam.

Flights to Cape Verde from Germany

Germans also have various choices to fly to Cape Verde from the following German cities:

TUI flies to Sal and Boa Vista Island from the following cities:

Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Hanover

HAPAGFly has flights to Sal Island from Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich

Cape Verde Flights from other European countries:

Many other European cities like Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Barcelona, Las Palmas, Seville, Milan, Rome and Bologna have direct flights, while others have connecting flights to Cape Verde via Lisbon through TAP Air Portugal or TACV Cabo Verde airlines.

Outside of Europe there are flights to Cape Verde from Boston, Dakar, Luanda and Fortaleza (Brazil).

Cape Verde Internal Flights

Most of the Cape Verde Islands can be reached through inter island flights, which are not always easy to book as they are almost always booked. It is recommended to book well in advance if you plan a trip to the outer islands. There are regular flights to and from the major islands of Santiago, Sal, São Vicente and Boa Vista, to the other Cape Verde islands, with less frequent flights.

The main inter island airlines serving the Cape Verde Islands are:

• TACV Cabo Verde Airlines
• Halcyon Air
• Cabo Verde Express
• TAP Air Portugal

There are no flights to Brava Island which can only be reached by ferry boat from the Island of Fogo.

The same applies to Santo Antão Island (the most westerly island of the Cape Verde Archipelago) which can only be reached by a ferry service from São Vicente Island.

The main ferry boat operators are Navierra Armas, Cape Verde Line and Cape Verde Fast Ferry. It should however be mentioned that ferry boats are not always reliable and punctual.

For more detailed information about Air and Ferry Transport in Cape Verde click here.