Dakar Airport

After reading the T2Impact blog, I was tipped off that Foreign Policy magazine had recently released their list of worst airports in the world and being a frequent traveler I wanted to see if I had been to any.

Here is the full list:

Dakar, Senegal
Delhi - Indira Gandhi
Mineralnye Vody Airport, Russia
Baghdad International, Iraq
Paris - Charles de Gaulle

One airport I am very familiar with is Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Dakar, Senegal. I flew in there from Lisbon on my first trip with Projects Abroad and I revisited it when I headed to South Africa as planes make a refueling stop there from New York.

It is definitely nothing like the shining new airports and terminals that are going up around the world but I don’t know if I would call it one of the worst airports in the world. The amenities are lackluster and although Foreign Policy magazine incorrectly states that there are no seats, the ones that are available are metal and quite hard from first hand experience. But in general it is adequate.

In my opinion, the real thing that detracts from a passenger’s time at the Dakar airport is the fact that almost all flights originating from Europe and North America arrive and depart between 11 PM and 3 AM. Consequently all passengers are confused, groggy and slightly discombobulated.

Has anyone else been to the Dakar airport? What is your least favorite airport?