Bongouanou Airport

The closure was for economic reasons. Bongouanou Airport was one of many small, unpaved airstrips (known as 'pistes') built across Côte d'Ivoire during its post-independence economic boom (circa 1960s-1970s). These airfields were primarily established to support state-owned agricultural companies like SODEPALM (for palm oil) and SODESUCRE (for sugar). When Côte d'Ivoire faced a severe economic crisis starting in the late 1970s and continuing through the 1980s, these state-run companies were restructured or privatized, and their funding collapsed. Consequently, the supporting infrastructure, including these specialized and costly-to-maintain airstrips, was abandoned as they no longer served an economic purpose.

The airport is completely abandoned and defunct. Satellite imagery of the coordinates (6.648528, -4.20703) shows the clear outline of a former runway, but it is heavily overgrown with grass, shrubs, and trees. The surface is unmaintained and has been partially reclaimed by the surrounding agricultural land and vegetation. There are no remaining buildings, hangars, or any form of aviation infrastructure. The site is unusable for any type of aircraft.

Bongouanou Airport was never a commercial airport with scheduled passenger flights. Its historical significance is rooted in its role as a tool for agricultural development in the Bongouanou region, which is a key area for cocoa and coffee production. When active, its operations were limited to general and corporate aviation, specifically:
- **Agricultural Aviation:** Used by light aircraft for crop dusting and aerial surveys of plantations.
- **Logistics and Transport:** Facilitated the rapid transport of company personnel, government officials, and essential light cargo (like machine parts or documents) to and from the remote agricultural zones, bypassing the often-poor road network of the time.
- **Medical Evacuation:** Served as a potential landing strip for emergency medical flights from the region to larger cities.

There are no known or credible plans or prospects for reopening Bongouanou Airport. The Ivorian government's current focus for aviation infrastructure is on the rehabilitation and modernization of its larger, regional airports that can support commercial traffic (e.g., San Pédro, Korhogo, Bouaké). The economic case for rebuilding a small, isolated airstrip like Bongouanou is non-existent in the modern context, as road infrastructure has improved and the state-sponsored agricultural model it once served no longer exists. The prospects for its reopening are considered to be zero.