Angola International Airport

Angola International Airport (Portuguese: Aeroporto Internacional de Angola)[2] (IATA: none, ICAO: none) is an international airport currently under-construction, which will serve the capital of Angola, Luanda. It is located in Bengo Province, 40 km southeast of the city center. It will be an alternative to the existing Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport. Along with some Chinese contractors, the Brazilian company, Odebrecht, are constructing the airport. The first phase was completed in 2012.[3] The airport was originally scheduled to completed and opened in 2015/2016, but due to delays caused by problems within the company and the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening was delayed until 2022.[4] The airport is now expected to be completed by the end of 2023.[5]

Angola International Airport

Aeroporto Internacional de Angola (Portuguese)

Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Angola (Swahili)
Satellite view of the airport
Summary
OwnerGovernment of Angola
OperatorEmpresa Nacional de Exploração de Aeroportos e Navegação Aérea (ENANA)
ServesLuanda
LocationBengo Province, Angola
Elevation AMSL522 ft / 159 m
Coordinates9°2′48.4″S 13°30′25.9″E
Websiteenana.co.ao
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05L/23R 13,123 3,800 Asphalt
05R/23L 12,470 4,000 Asphalt
Source: aerobaticsweb.org [1]

Design and construction

The airport will be having the capacity to serve 13 million passengers per year. The lead construction company is China International Fund, which was founded in Hong Kong in 2003.[6] The company built a village named Vila Chinesa, meaning "Chinese village", for the accommodation of workers and material depots, east of Luanda in Viana.[7]

Air Traffic Control (ATC) building of the airport
The airport under construction in November 2022

The passenger terminal occupies 160,00 sq.m, while the cargo terminal is 6,200 sq.m., with an annual capacity of 35,000 tonnes of cargo. Two parallel runways are built. The northern runway is 3,800 meters long, while the southern runway is 4,000 meters long, both measuring 60 meters in width. The airport's site was finalised in 2004, and construction began in mid-2006. Work was suspended at the end of 2007, due to financial revaluation by the Angolan government. The construction costs, which are financed entirely by China, were estimated at US$3,8 billion (2015).[8] Complementary infrastructure, such as shops, hangars, restaurants, offices and a nearby hotel are not included. The airport's total area is 50 sq.km.

The project includes the construction of a rail link to the capital, to the province of Luanda and possibly to the neighboring province of Malanje. Due to high traffic jams and in order to cope with the future traffic, the highway connection to Luanda required that the existing road from Luanda to Malanje needs a mass expansion, which is now completed, and is converted as a six-lane and four-lane highway.

As of June 2022, the airport is expected to be completed and opened by the end of 2023, as declared by the Angolan Government as the latest update of the airport's status.[9]

References
  1. "Airports Report Luanda". aerobaticsweb.org. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  2. Angolan transport minister about naming of the airport, portalangop.co.ao, retrieved 8 March 2015
  3. (in Portuguese) Novo aeroporto orgulha África Jornal de Angola Online, 17 May 2012 (en)
  4. (in Portuguese) Novo aeroporto de Luanda: Defende-se investigação para responsabilização, 06.03.2019
  5. "Angola Delays Opening of $5 Billion Airport for the Fourth Time". Bloomberg.com. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  6. "Angola Delays Opening of $5 Billion Airport for the Fourth Time". Bloomberg.com. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  7. Google Maps
  8. (in Portuguese) Novo aeroporto de Luanda deverá ser o “mais importante” na África Central, VerAngola from 5 March 2015
  9. "Angola Delays Opening of $5 Billion Airport for the Fourth Time". Bloomberg.com. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
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