Mbanza kongo: The works on the future Mbanza Kongo International Airport in Angola's northern province of Zaire have reached a 38% completion rate. Construction of the airport, named after Nimi a Lukeni, the founder of the Kingdom of Kongo, began in July 2022. The site was inspected on Wednesday by President Joo Louren§o during his two-day visit to the Zaire province.
According to Angola Press News Agency, Carlos Pimentel Araºjo, the infrastructure manager of the company SGA, confirmed that the project is being executed by the Chinese company Shinohidro. The financial execution of the project stands at approximately 66.17%. Earthworks for the runway and support infrastructure are complete, and structures such as the control tower, cargo terminal buildings, passenger terminal, and the Ministry of the Interior's support building have been finalized.
Currently, electrical, mechanical, and sewage piping work is underway on the project, which is budgeted at 154,514,040 US dollars. The construction experienced a two-year halt from 2023 to 2025 due to financial issues.
The airport is designed to accommodate Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with a runway measuring 3,500 meters in length and 45 meters in width, including 7.5-meter shoulders on each side. Once completed, the airport will have the capacity to manage 500,000 passengers yearly and will span a gross area of 183 hectares, with plans for an airport city in the future. The project's completion is scheduled for May 2027.
