Nelson Mandela International Airport (RAI) — Airport Guide 2026

✈️ The Capital’s Airport, Not the Beach Hub

RAI serves Santiago island — Cape Verde’s largest, its political centre, and the one where daily life looks most recognisably West African rather than tourist-resort. Sal (SID) and Boa Vista (BVC) are the islands with the white-sand strips, the charter operators, and the all-inclusives. Praia is where the government sits and the greater population lives, and the airport traffic reflects that: Cabo Verde Airlines inter-island hops, diaspora flights to Lisbon (large Cape Verdean community in Portugal and the Netherlands), West Africa connections, and one nonstop to the United States.

The terminal is small and functional by international standards. There is no sprawling retail concourse to kill time in. It processes passengers and puts them in taxis quickly, which is more useful than the alternative.

🛂 Border & Visa: EASE, the TSA, and the 2026 Change

Cape Verde uses its own pre-registration system, EASE, and it applies to every foreign visitor regardless of nationality.

📋 EASE Registration (Everyone)

Pre-register at ease.gov.cv at least five days before departure and pay the Airport Security Tax (TSA): 3,400 CVE (about €31 / $35) on international flights, 150 CVE on domestic. Paying at the airport is possible but draws a surcharge, and a proposal to roughly double the unregistered penalty to ~€62 was circulated for March 2026 before being suspended — it may be revisited. Pre-register early, use the official ease.gov.cv site only (intermediary sites charge for a free process), and keep the confirmation on your phone.

🌍 The January 2026 Visa Change

EU and EEA citizens are visa-free — EASE registration and the TSA are all they need, as they have been since 2019. Everyone else should verify carefully before booking.

In January 2026, Cape Verde suspended visa-on-arrival for citizens of 96 countries. US, UK, Canadian, and Australian passport holders are among those affected. Depending on your nationality, you may now need to obtain a visa from a Cape Verdean embassy or consulate before travel rather than relying on arrival or EASE alone. Check your specific nationality’s current requirement through the official EASE or consular portal — the rule for your passport may have shifted since your last visit.

One constant across all nationalities: EASE pre-registration and TSA payment are mandatory, visa or no visa.

🚕 Getting Into Praia

The airport is 4 km from the city. There is no rail link. All transfers are road.

Taxi is the practical choice for most arriving passengers. Official taxis are beige; the run into Praia takes 10–15 minutes and costs roughly 1,000–1,500 CVE (€10–15). Agree the fare before the bags go in, or confirm the meter is running — overcharging tourists on the airport rank is the standard risk. Both escudos and euros are accepted, given the fixed peg.

Aluguer — the shared Hiace minibuses that function as everyday public transport across Santiago — are considerably cheaper but run set routes on their own schedule and are not geared to airport luggage. Viable if you’re travelling very light and have patience for the local rhythm.

City buses (autocarros) exist but are slow, not tourist-oriented, and designed for residents who already know the routes.

Skip the airport currency exchange for anything beyond pocket cash. The CVE–euro peg is fixed at €1 = 110.265 CVE, so euro-holders lose almost nothing by waiting until the city, where rates are slightly better.

🛋️ Lounges & Terminal Facilities

RAI has no confirmed Priority Pass lounge. Cape Verde’s Priority Pass lounge — the Safeport lounge — operates at Sal’s Amílcar Cabral Airport (SID), the resort island hub. If you’re transiting Praia expecting card-access lounge facilities, you’ve mixed up the airports.

What RAI does have: free Wi-Fi, a café or two, duty-free retail, and seating. Cabo Verde Airlines may offer something for its own premium passengers, but independent lounge access is not available. A long pre-flight gap is better spent in Praia’s Plateau neighbourhood, which is 10–15 minutes away and has actual restaurants.

🍽️ Food Before You Fly

Terminal food at RAI is limited. The time to eat is in the Plateau, before you go airside.

The national dish is cachupa — a slow-cooked stew of hominy corn, beans, and whatever comes to hand: sausage and pork in the rich version (cachupa rica), or fish in the lighter one. The morning-after treatment, cachupa guisada, fries the leftovers with an egg and is the standard Cape Verdean breakfast. Pastéis — small fried pastries stuffed with tuna — are the everyday snack at any café. The seas around Santiago yield good fresh tuna, wahoo, and lobster, generally grilled simply.

To drink: grogue, the Cape Verdean sugarcane spirit (Santo Antão’s is considered the best of the islands), and ponche, which cuts it with sugarcane molasses and lime. Both are cheap and strong.

Morna — the melancholic national song form — is what you’ll hear in any bar in Praia. Its most celebrated practitioner, Cesária Évora, the “barefoot diva” from Mindelo on São Vicente, died in 2011, but her recordings are inescapable.

💡 Insider: Cidade Velha, the Plateau & the Honest Layover Math

Santiago island carries one historically significant site that justifies leaving the terminal, and one neighbourhood that fills a shorter gap adequately.

🏛️ Cidade Velha (UNESCO) — The Real Reason to Leave the Airport

About 12 km from Praia — roughly 30 minutes by taxi or hire car — Cidade Velha was founded in 1462 as Ribeira Grande, the first European colonial town built in the tropics and a significant node of the transatlantic slave trade. UNESCO inscribed it in 2009. The Royal Fort of São Filipe sits on the hill above the valley; the pelourinho (marble pillory) stands in the old town square; the ruins below are considered the oldest colonial church in the world. It is a sobering place, and it is the one stop on Santiago that earns the trip.

The layover maths: you need at least 4–5 hours — 30 minutes each way plus time at the fort and old centre, plus security buffer on return. Pre-arrange a round-trip taxi with agreed waiting time before you leave the airport. A hire car works if you want flexibility. Aluguers serve the route but on local rhythms.

🏙️ Praia’s Plateau (Platô) — The Short-Layover Option

The historic centre of Praia sits on a flat-topped hill: the walking street, Portuguese-colonial squares, everyday commerce. It’s 10–15 minutes from the airport and viable on a 2-hour-plus gap. Quebra Canela, Praia’s main city beach, is nearby — a city beach, not a resort beach, but fine for a short stop.

🛒 Sucupira Market

The Sucupira market is Praia’s main trading hub — large, busy, the place residents come to buy and sell. Worth seeing if the schedule allows, but keep valuables in a front pocket; opportunistic theft is common in crowded markets here.

⚠️ Safety Note

Cape Verde is a stable democracy and Santiago is uncomplicated to visit. Praia has normal urban caution: keep valuables secured around the Sucupira market and on beaches after dark, and use registered (beige) taxis at night. There is no security advisory in effect.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

📊 At a glance — RAI 2026