The international airport is at Lungi, the other side of the estuary from Freetown. Since 2009 there has been a proliferation of "water taxis," small yacht-like boats that cost around $40, offer free bus connections from the airport terminal, and serve various destinations in Freetown, including Aberdeen, Murray Town, and Kissy. The hovercraft service has resumed operations under the Helog company. It runs from Man of War Bay in Aberdeen. Three often-overloaded car ferries run to the east end of Freetown from Tagrin at the southern tip of Lungi, docking at Kissy Ferry Terminal, which cross the water in 45-70 minutes, but can take several hours including waiting/loading times. For those with a light load, local speedboats (US$1.25) and larger, slower "pampa" boats (US$0.50) are by far the most affordable, if not safest, option. They run fairly frequently, when full, on the same route as the car ferries. The landing in Lungi is wet, but porters wait to carry you in or out of the boats for a small fee (US$0.25).
By road it is 5+ hours to the city, via Port Loko using some poor roads. Safety concerns have been expressed over all of the different transport options from the airport to Freetown.
BMI is well established, with three direct flights per week to London Heathrow. Brussels Airlines flies to Brussels. Flights to Nairobi (Kenya Airways), Casablanca (Royal Air Maroc), Lagos, Banjul (Arik Air) and many Western African countries are available. Air France will re-introduce flights from Paris in 2011.
Unfortunately, thefts from hold baggage are very common at the airport, especially on the way out of the country. Carry anything of value in your cabin luggage.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Sierra Leone
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Sierra Leone - updated May 2024
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Sierra Leone Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
