New Luanda International Airport under Construction

Images, Location Map, Planning and Construction of the New Luanda, Angola International Airport.

New Luanda International Airport Location Map

The new, under construction, Luanda, Angola International Airport site is located approximately 40 km to the east fof the centre of Luanda, in the Bom Jesus commune, Icole e Bengo municipality in Luanda Province.

It is located at GPS co-ordinates 9°2'48.4"S, 13°30'25.9"E, 552ft (159m) above sea level.

New Luanda, Angola International Airport Constuction

Despite several delays as a result of financial re-evaluations, construction of the new Angola International Airport is well underway, with a latest opening estimate of mid-2023. The total cost is now estimated to be around $3.8 billion US Dollars.

The modern passenger terminal building occupies 160,000 square metres of land and the cargo terminal occupies 6,200 square metres giving it an annual cargo capacity of 35,000 tonnes. The passenger terminal building will have 12 aircraft finger-docks. The northern runway is 4,200 metres in length and the southern runway is 3,800 metres long, with both being 60 metres wide. The total area of the airport precint alone will be 50 squre kilometres alone with complimentary structures, including an hotel, shop and services, hangars, restaurants and offices, increasing the area even further.

The new airport is initially designed to accommodate 13 million passengers annually, with some reports stating that this will be significantly exceeded as the airport will become a major hub for sub-saharan Africa to rival Johannesburg - OR Tambo International Airport. The construction company is the Chinese International Fund, which was founded in Hong Kong in 2003. The Chinese have also built a large construction village, located in Viana, named "Villa Chinesa", meaning "Chinese Village"; which accommodates the Chinese workers and a construction depot. The use of predominantly Chinese construction workers only has caused resentment amongst Angolan workers with reports of protests and riots requiring intervention by the police and military.

New infrastructure is also under construction to accommodate the logistical needs of the increased capacity of Angola International Airport, including the widening of the Luanda to Melange highway, already congested with existing traffic and a new rail-link from Luanda to Angola International Airport and a possible further extension into Melange Province.