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
Summary
Airport typeMilitary / Public
OperatorENANA EP
LocationLuanda, Angola
Hub for
Elevation AMSL243 ft / 74 m
Coordinates08°51′30″S 13°13′52″E
Websiteluandaairport.com/en/
Map
LAD
Location of Airport in Angola
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
05/23 3,716 12,190 Asphalt
07/25 2,600 8,530 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers5,600,000
Passenger change 18–199.4%
Aircraft movements65,843
Movements change 18–191.8%

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.

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).[4] Starting no earlier than 2022,[5] 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.[6]

Airlines and destinations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all international flights to and from Luanda were suspended on March 19, 2020.[7] Since then, only a few airlines have resumed international connections. The list below refers to the services offered before the suspension.

AirlinesDestinations
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Airlink Johannesburg–OR Tambo
Arik Air Lagos
Brussels Airlines Brussels, Kinshasa–N'djili (both resume 18 February 2021)[8]
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
TAAG Angola Airlines[9] Abidjan, Brazzaville, Cabinda,[10] Cape Town, Catumbela, Dundo, Harare, Havana, Huambo, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Kinshasa–N'djili, Kuito, Lagos, Lisbon, Lubango, Luena, Lusaka, Maputo, Menongue, Moçâmedes, Ondjiva, 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
Traffic by calendar year. Official ACI Statistics
PassengersChange from previous yearAircraft operationsChange from previous yearCargo
(metric tons)		Change from previous year
2005 882,74918.15%28,38217.31%19,97523.35%
2006 1,128,44227.83%22,21321.74%33,87669.59%
2007 N.A.N.A.N.A.N.A.N.A.N.A.
2008 2,222,638N.A.68,000N.A.42,614N.A.
2009 2,430,794 9.37%65,843 3.17%53,33925.17%
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.[11][12]
  • 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 November 2020.[13]
  • 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.[14][15]
  • On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.[16]

References
  1. Macauhub: Over 2 million passengers processed at Luanda Airport Angola in first half of 2010 30 November 2009
  2. "Flight from Angola". The Economist. 16 August 1975. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. "More Planes and Troops Sought for Angola Airlift". The New York Times. 10 September 1975. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  4. Airport information for FNLU from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  5. (in Portuguese) Novo aeroporto de Luanda: Defende-se investigação para responsabilização, 06.03.2019
  6. Angola: Luanda's costly new airport raises questions. theafricareport.com. 18 November 2014 (inglês)
  7. https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/324512/angola-authorities-suspend-international-flights-as-of-march-20-update-3
  8. https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/294131/brussels-airlines-resumes-luanda-new-york-service-in-feb-2021/
  9. https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/324512/angola-authorities-suspend-international-flights-as-of-march-20-update-3
  10. Liu, Jim. "TAAG resumes domestic service from mid-Sep 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  11. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 18D DM-STL Luanda-4 de Fevereiro Airport (LAD)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  12. "Accident description of the 1979 Interflug crash". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  13. "History of flight: The 727 that vanished". Airspacemag.com. September 2010.
  14. "Parked BA 777 damaged in ground collision at Luanda". FlightGlobal.com. 29 June 2009.
  15. "Accident: British Airways B772 and Hainan A346 at Luanda on Jun 27th 2009, wings collided". avherald.com. 29 June 2009.
  16. Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Guicango YK40 at Luanda on Jan 31st 2010, gear collapse on landing". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2010.

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