Nouakchott Old Airport, airport in Nouakchott, Mauritania
The Nouakchott Old Airport was once the city's main air gateway with a simple structure and basic facilities that served commercial and cargo traffic. The site featured a single runway and small terminal building that were later expanded to accommodate larger jets as air traffic increased.
The airport was built in the early 1960s shortly after Mauritania's independence and served as the country's first main air gateway. It expanded and modernized over decades to handle larger aircraft until closing in 2016 when a larger facility opened north of the city.
The site of the former airport now sits quietly and is partially unused or being repurposed for urban development projects. Visitors can explore the remains of the runway and buildings that remind us of the location's busy past.
The former airport grounds now sit amid an expanding city, surrounded by neighborhoods and sand dunes where air traffic and urban growth once unfolded side by side. The location demonstrates how rapid urbanization and limited space capacity led to moving such important infrastructure.
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