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Two
airports serve the capital city of Monrovia in Liberia, however
it is Roberts International Airport, named after the country's
first president, Joseph Roberts, that is the main international
airport, locally referred to as Robertsfield or just "RIA". Monrovia's other
airport, James Spriggs Payne Airport (named after James Spriggs
Payne who was president of the Republic of Liberia in 1868-70
and again in 1876-78 and known as Spriggs Payne), is located just three miles from Monrovia
but is much smaller, today mainly operating as a UN outpost for
helicopter and aircraft operations. Roberts
International Airport itself is located some 35 miles south-east
of Monrovia and was originally built by the United States government as an Air Force base with a runway long enough for B-47 bombers to land for refueling, giving Liberia what was for many years the longest runway in Africa. In fact, from the end of World War II until 1985, the airport was administered and operated by Pan American under contract with the Republic of Liberia's Ministry of Transport. It was also
earmarked as an emergency landing base for the then Space Shuttle
program.
The airport operates flights with Brussels Airlines, ASKY, Air France, Kenya Airways, Air Cote d'Ivorie, Royal Air Madoc and Africa World Airlines. It is soon to be home to Lone Star Air, the national airline successor to the now defunct Air Liberia, which will operate flights to Accra, Abidjan, Abuja, Banjul, Bissau, Conakry, Dakar, Freetown, Lagos, Ouagadougou, and Sao Tome when fully operational. Roberts International currently serves around a third of a million passengers a year and a new passenger terminal opened in 2018 to upgrade the facility to bring it
up to expected international standards. Today, unlike many other
airports in Africa, Roberts International Airport is a generally
relaxed and friendly place with no need to drop any money into
the hands of custom's officials to 'ease' the arrival or
departure process although would be deemed somewhat chaotic
compared with European airports. The airport has
bars and restaurants in the main departure halls as well as duty
free shops and banking and postal facilities close-by. In the short video (below), make a virtual landing at the airport as you fly in over
the skies of Liberia then explore Monrovia itself.
Monrovia Airport: Volunteer in Liberia
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Monrovia Airport: Monrovia Profile
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Monrovia Airport: Sponsor Children in Liberia
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Monrovia Airport: Liberia Country Profile
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