Quatro de Fevereiro Airport

Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro
IATA: LAD ICAO: FNLU
Summary
Airport type	Military / Public
Operator	ENANA EP
Location	Luanda, Angola
Hub for	Diexim Expresso SonAir TAAG Angola Airlines
Elevation AMSL	243 ft / 74 m
Coordinates	08°51′30″S 13°13′52″E / 8.85833°S 13.23111°E / -8.85833; 13.23111Coordinates: 08°51′30″S 13°13′52″E / 8.85833°S 13.23111°E / -8.85833; 13.23111
Website	web.archive.org/web/20141110224106/http://www.luandaairport.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 (2009)
Passengers 2,430,794 Passenger change 09–10 9.4% Aircraft movements 65,843 Movements change 09–10 3.2%
Source: DAFIF,[1][2] Landings.com,[3] 2010 World Airport Traffic Report.[4]

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.^[5]

History

The airport started to be constructed in 1951, to serve the capital of the then Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola. It was inaugurated in 1954, by the Portuguese President Craveiro Lopes. In honor to him, the official name of the airport became President Craveiro Lopes Airport (Aeroporto Presidente Craveiro Lopes). In August 1975 the airport hosted tens of thousands of mostly white Portuguese Angolans in transit, camping at the airport ahead of fleeing to Lisbon via "Operation Air Bridge". Following the independence of Angola from Portugal in November 1975, the airport was re-baptized Quatro de Fevereiro Internacional Airport.

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).^[1] Starting in Mid-2017, 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

Notes

^a Flights to and from Luanda proceed via Windhoek. However, KLM does not carry local traffic rights between Luanda and Windhoek.

Statistics

Traffic by calendar year. Official ACI Statistics

	Passengers	Change from previous year	Aircraft operations	Change from previous year	Cargo (metric tons)	Change from previous year
2005	882,749	18.15%	28,382	17.31%	19,975	23.35%
2006	1,128,442	27.83%	22,213	21.74%	33,876	69.59%
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	9.37%	65,843	3.17%	53,339	25.17%
Source: Airports Council International. World Airport Traffic Statistics (Years 2005-2009)

Accidents and incidents

• 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.
• 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.^[11][12]
• On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.^[13]

References

External links

• Current weather for FNLU at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for LAD at Aviation Safety Network