Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (Portuguese: Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro), (IATA: LAD, ICAO: FNLU) is the main international airport of Angola. It is located in the southern part of the capital Luanda, situated in the Luanda Province. Quatro de Fevereiro means 4 February, which is an important national holiday in Angola, marking the start of the armed struggle against the Portuguese colonial regime on 4 February 1961. In 2009, about 1.8 million passengers were counted.[1]
Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Military / Public | ||||||||||||||
Operator | ENANA EP | ||||||||||||||
Location | Luanda, Angola | ||||||||||||||
Hub for | |||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 243 ft / 74 m | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 08°51′30″S 13°13′52″E | ||||||||||||||
Website | luandaairport | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
LAD Location of Airport in Angola | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Statistics (2018) | |||||||||||||||
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History
The construction of the airport began in 1951, in order to serve the capital of the former-Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola. It was inaugurated in 1954, by the Portuguese President Craveiro Lopes, which in his honor, the airport was named Aeroporto Presidente Craveiro Lopes (President Craveiro Lopes Airport).
In August, September, and October 1975 the airport hosted tens of thousands of mostly white Portuguese Angolans fleeing to Lisbon (during Operation Air Bridge) who camped-out while awaiting evacuation flights during the weeks before Angola's Independence.[2][3]
Following Angola's independence from Portugal (in November 1975), the airport was renamed Aeroporto Quatro de Fevereiro Internacional (Fourth of February International Airport) to commemorate the events leading to the independence of the state.
On March 19, 2020 Angola suspended all international flights to and from the capitol, Luanda, due to the COVID-19-pandemic. [4]
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of 243 feet (74 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 05/23 is 3,716 by 45 metres (12,192 ft × 148 ft) and 07/25 is 2,600 by 60 metres (8,530 ft × 197 ft).[5] Starting no earlier than 2022,[6] the airport will be replaced by the new Angola International Airport. Construction work has already started, but its opening was postponed due to financial difficulties on the part of the Angolan government.[7]
Airlines and destinations
Airlines | Destinations |
---|---|
Air France | Paris–Charles de Gaulle |
Airlink | Johannesburg–OR Tambo |
Arik Air | Lagos |
Brussels Airlines | Brussels, Kinshasa–N'djili |
Emirates | Dubai–International |
Ethiopian Airlines | Addis Ababa |
Fly Angola | Benguela, Dundo, Saurimo |
Kenya Airways | Brazzaville, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta |
KLM | Amsterdamb |
Lufthansa | Frankfurt |
Qatar Airways | Doha (begins 14 October 2020)[8] |
Royal Air Maroc | Casablanca, Libreville |
TAAG Angola Airlines[9] | Abidjan, Accra, Brazzaville, Cape Town, Catumbela, Dundo, Harare, Havana, Huambo, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Kinshasa–N'djili, Kuito, Lagos, Lisbon, Lubango, Luena, Lusaka, Maputo, Menongue, Moçâmedes, Ondjiva, Porto, Sal, São Paulo–Guarulhos, São Tomé, Saurimo, Soyo, Windhoek–Hosea Kutako |
TAP Air Portugal | Lisbon |
- Notes
^b Flights from Amsterdam to Luanda continue on to Windhoek. However, KLM does not carry local traffic rights between Luanda and Windhoek.
Statistics
Passengers | Change from previous year | Aircraft operations | Change from previous year | Cargo (metric tons) | Change from previous year | |
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2005 | 882,749 | 28,382 | 19,975 | |||
2006 | 1,128,442 | 22,213 | 33,876 | |||
2007 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
2008 | 2,222,638 | N.A. | 68,000 | N.A. | 42,614 | N.A. |
2009 | 2,430,794 | 65,843 | 53,339 | |||
Source: Airports Council International. World Airport Traffic Statistics (Years 2005-2009) |
Accidents and incidents
- On 26 March 1979, a cargo-configured Interflug Ilyushin Il-18 DM-STL overshot the runway following an engine failure during the take-off run. The aircraft broke up and erupted into flames, killing the ten people on board.[10][11]
- On 12 February 2000, a Transafrik International cargo Boeing 727 crashed upon landing on runway 23. Due to high winds gusting to between 50 and 80 knots, the aircraft had executed a missed approach, and upon the landing flare of the second attempt, witnesses saw the right wing touch the ground.
- On 25 May 2003, a Boeing 727–223 with the registration number N844AA, which had been parked at the airport for over a year, was stolen in mysterious circumstances, and has never been found as of April 2020.[12]
- On 27 June 2009, a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER G-RAES was damaged, while it was parked, by a collision with a Hainan Airlines Airbus A340-600 B-6510.[13][14]
- On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.[15]
References
- Macauhub: Over 2 million passengers processed at Luanda Airport Angola in first half of 2010 30 November 2009
- "Flight from Angola". The Economist. 16 August 1975. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- "More Planes and Troops Sought for Angola Airlift". The New York Times. 10 September 1975. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/324512/angola-authorities-suspend-international-flights-as-of-march-20-update-3
- Airport information for FNLU from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
- (in Portuguese) Novo aeroporto de Luanda: Defende-se investigação para responsabilização, 06.03.2019
- Angola: Luanda's costly new airport raises questions. theafricareport.com. 18 November 2014 (inglês)
- https://www.qatarairways.com/en/press-releases/2020/January/KAS2020.html?activeTag=Press-releases
- https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/324512/angola-authorities-suspend-international-flights-as-of-march-20-update-3
- Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 18D DM-STL Luanda-4 de Fevereiro Airport (LAD)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- "Accident description of the 1979 Interflug crash". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- "History of flight: The 727 that vanished". Airspacemag.com. September 2010.
- "Parked BA 777 damaged in ground collision at Luanda". FlightGlobal.com. 29 June 2009.
- "Accident: British Airways B772 and Hainan A346 at Luanda on Jun 27th 2009, wings collided". avherald.com. 29 June 2009.
- Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Guicango YK40 at Luanda on Jan 31st 2010, gear collapse on landing". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2010.