Limbé Airport

Industrial Development and Land Repurposing. The airport was closed and the land was expropriated to accommodate the construction of Cameroon's National Oil Refinery, the Société Nationale de Raffinage (SONARA). The refinery, inaugurated in 1981, required a large, secure area, making the airport's continued operation at that location impossible.

The site of the former airport is now completely occupied by the SONARA oil refinery and its associated infrastructure. The faint outline of the original runway can still be discerned on satellite imagery, but it is bisected by refinery access roads and surrounded by storage tanks, processing units, and security buffer zones. The area is a high-security industrial zone with no public access and is not used for any aviation-related activities.

The Limbé Airport was a small airstrip primarily active during the mid-20th century. Its main purpose was to serve the administrative and logistical needs of the vast agro-industrial plantations in the region, which were managed by the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), headquartered in Limbé (then known as Victoria). The airstrip facilitated the movement of company executives, government officials, and light cargo, connecting the coastal economic hub with other major centers like Douala before the road infrastructure was fully developed. It was a vital piece of infrastructure for the region's colonial and post-colonial economy, centered on palm oil, rubber, and bananas.

There are zero prospects for reopening the original airport, as its site is irreversibly developed. However, the Cameroonian government has periodically announced plans to construct a new, modern airport in the Limbé area to support its deep-sea port, growing industrial sector, and tourism potential. These proposals, particularly prominent in the mid-2010s ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, have consistently stalled. Progress has been hindered by a lack of funding and, more significantly, the severe instability and conflict in the region due to the ongoing Anglophone Crisis that began in late 2016. As of now, there are no active or funded projects to build a new airport for Limbé.