São Tomé International Airport

Airport

TMS

Location of airport in São Tomé and Príncipe

Runways

Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	m	ft	Surface
11/29	2,220	7,283	Asphalt

Source: DAFIF^[1]^[2]

São Tomé International Airport (Portuguese: Aeroporto Internacional de São Tomé) (IATA: TMS, ICAO: FPST) is an international airport located on São Tomé Island, 5 kilometres (3 mi) from the city of São Tomé.^[3] It is the main airport serving São Tomé and Príncipe.

Facilities

The airport is at an elevation of 33 feet (10 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 11/29 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,220 by 45 metres (7,283 ft × 148 ft).^[1]

History

During the 1967-70 secession war from Nigeria (Nigerian Civil War), the airport served as the major base of operations for the Biafran airlift. The airlift was an international humanitarian relief effort (the largest civilian airlift to date) that transported food and medicine to eastern Nigeria. It is estimated to have saved more than a million lives.^[4]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Afrijet	Libreville, Príncipe
ASKY Airlines	Libreville, Lomé^[5]
STP Airways	Lisbon, Príncipe
TAAG Angola Airlines	Luanda
TAP Air Portugal	Accra, Lisbon

Statistics

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Annual passenger traffic at TMS airport. See Wikidata query.

Incidents and accidents

On 22 November 1962, Douglas C-54D-10-DC 7502 of the Portuguese Air Force crashed shortly after take-off for Portela Airport, Lisbon, Portugal, killing 22 of the 37 people on board.^[6]
On 15 May 1979: A Lockheed L-100-20 Hercules, registration D2-FAF, of TAAG Angola Airlines crashed on landing at São Tomé International Airport. There were no fatalities.^[7]
On 29 July 2017, Antonov An-74TK100 UR-CKC of CAVOK Air crashed on take-off and was damaged beyond repair. A birdstrike was reported and the aircraft overran the end of the runway whilst attempting to abort the take-off.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b Airport information for FPST^[usurped] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
^ Airport information for TMS at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
^ "Destinos em São Tomé e Príncipe (São Tomé)". TAP Portugal.^{[dead link]}
^ Biafra Relief Heroes: remembering--in the words of those who were there..., Voice of Biafra International. Retrieved 2013-11-24
^ "Asky Airlines Adds Sao Tome et Principe Service From Oct 2022". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
^ "7502 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
^ Accident description for D2-FAF at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 7 July 2011.
^ "UR-CKC Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 29 July 2017.