Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport

Last updated
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport
Ndola Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner Government of the Republic of Zambia
Serves Ndola and Kitwe
Location Ndola, Zambia
Opened7 October 2021;2 years ago (2021-10-07)
Time zone (UTC+2)
Map
Zambia adm location map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
ftm
09/2711,4833,500

Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport( IATA : NLA, ICAO : FLSK) is an international airport located in Ndola, Copperbelt Province, Zambia. It was officially known as Ndola Airport before being renamed in 2011 in honour of Simon Kapwepwe, the nation's former vice president. [1] It is located adjacent to the Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial about fifteen kilometres (9.3 mi) west of the city centre. [2] [3] [4] It is accessed by using the Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Access Road off the T3 road (Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway).

Contents

The original Ndola Airport in Itawa (opened in the 1950s [5] ) was built to serve the city of Ndola, the administrative capital of the Copperbelt province. However, as the relocated Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport opened in 2021, it now serves the cities of Kitwe and Ndola in the Copperbelt, Zambia's 2nd and 3rd most populous cities. It additionally handles domestic, regional and international flights for both passengers and cargo.

In late 2021, the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport moved its operations to its current location adjacent to the Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial from its previous location in Ndola's Itawa suburb. This new airport was engineered by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC International) at a cost of $397 million. [6] It was expected to be completed in Mid-2020 [6] but was delayed by setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why it opened the following year. [7]

History

Before August 2021, the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport was at an old location, in the Itawa suburb of Ndola (south-east of the city centre). Ndola's airport in Itawa officially became a civilian airport in the 1950s after first being used as a military base. [5] Previously, it was known as Ndola Airport and in September 2011, President Michael Sata decided to rename the airport in honour of Simon Kapwepwe, the nation's former vice-president. [1]

On 5 August 2021, Ndola's airport was officially moved from Itawa to a new address, 15 kilometres west of the city centre, just north of the Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial, which is its current address. While under construction, the airport's current location was known as the Copperbelt International Airport until construction finished in August 2021, [8] [9] [6] [10] when it was commissioned by President Edgar Lungu. [11] [12] [13] [14] At that point, it was renamed Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, the name of the original airport. The new airport also retained the same IATA code (NLA).

The new airport was engineered by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC International) at a cost of $397 million. [6] It was expected to be completed in Mid-2020 [6] but was delayed by setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7] On 5 August 2021, President Edgar Lungu commissioned the opening of the new airport, [11] [12] [13] although it took about two more months for all operations to complete moving from the old airport to the new airport 15 kilometres west of the city centre. [4] The airport started operations on 7 October 2021. [4]

As such, the old airport in the Itawa suburb is no-longer a commercial airport (no-longer named SMK International) and now belongs to the Zambian Air Force. On 30 July 2021, President Edgar Lungu gave the old airport location a name, Peter Zuze Air Force Base, named after Zambia's first indigenous air commander. [15] [16] [17] Ndola remains having one commercial airport. [4]

Location

The airport is located adjacent to the Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial and Ndola Girls Technical Secondary School [2] [3] in the western part of Ndola District. It is reachable, by road, using the Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial access road, off the Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriageway. It is approximately 15 kilometres west of Ndola city centre by road. [18]

Facilities

The airport has a single runway, designated 09/27 and 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) in length. [19]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines have scheduled passenger service at Ndola International airport:

AirlinesDestinations
Airlink Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo
Air Tanzania Dar es Salaam [20]
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa, Maun [21]
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Proflight Zambia Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, [22] Lusaka, Mansa, Solwezi
Zambia Airways Lusaka [23]

Accidents and incidents

See also

Related Research Articles

NLA may refer to:

This article is about the Transport in Zambia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ndola</span> City in Copperbelt Province, Zambia

Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503, after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is the industrial and commercial center of the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It lies just 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the border with DR Congo. It is also home to Zambia's first modern stadium, the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitwe</span> City in Copperbelt, Zambia

Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development and second largest city in terms of size and population in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 Kitwe is one of the most developed commercial and industrial areas in the nation, alongside Ndola and Lusaka. It has a complex of mines on its north-western and western edges.

Mufulira is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luanshya</span> Town in Copperbelt Province, Zambia

Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579. The town is situated in an area which was under Chief Mushili of the Lamba people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Kaunda International Airport</span> International airport serving Lusaka, Zambia

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Kapwepwe is a surname. It may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Zuze Air Force Base</span> Airport in Ndola, Zambia

Peter Zuze Air Force Base is an airbase located in the city of Ndola in the Copperbelt Province in northern Zambia. It used to be the premises of the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport until late 2021, when Ndola's airport moved its operations 15 km (9.3 mi) to the west and this old airport address ceased to be a commercial airport. It now belongs to the Zambian Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zambia Airways</span> Zambian flag carrier

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Zambia</span> Overview of and topical guide to Zambia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zambia:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transair Sweden</span> Former Swedish airline, 1950–1981

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copperbelt University</span> Public university in Kitwe, Zambia

The Copperbelt University is a public university in Kitwe, Zambia. It is the second largest public university in Zambia. The language of instruction at the university is English.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Crash Site marks the place of the plane crash in which Dag Hammarskjöld, the second and then-sitting Secretary-General of the United Nations was killed on 17 September 1961, while on a mission to the Léopoldville Congo Republic. The site is located 10 km west of Ndola, in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia.

Southdowns Airport is an airport serving Kitwe, a city in the Copperbelt Province in Zambia. The airport is located in Kalulushi District, in the countryside 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) southwest of Kitwe and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south-east of Kalulushi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transair Sweden Flight 001</span> 1961 plane crash killing UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld

On 18 September 1961, a DC-6 passenger aircraft of Transair Sweden Flight 001, operating for the United Nations, crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia. The crash resulted in the deaths of all people on board, including Dag Hammarskjöld, the second secretary-general of the United Nations, and 15 others. Hammarskjöld had been en route to ceasefire negotiations with Moïse Tshombe during the Congo Crisis. Three official inquiries failed to conclusively determine the cause. Some historians and military experts like Susan Williams have criticized the official inquiries, pointing to evidence of foul play that had been omitted from the inquiries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airlink Cargo</span> South African cargo airline

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Chambishi is a town in Kalulushi District in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. According to the 2021 Census its population stands at slightly above 11,000. It is located on the T3 road between the cities of Kitwe and Chingola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T3 road (Zambia)</span> Road in Zambia

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References

  1. 1 2 "Zambia : Sata renames three Airports". 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  2. 1 2 "Copperbelt International Airport". Google Maps . Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Zambia: Airlines to shift operations to new airport in Ndola Oct. 7". Zambia: Airlines to shift operations to new airport in Ndola Oct. 7 | Crisis24. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  5. 1 2 "SMKIA - Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport". www.zacl.co.zm. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Zambia : Copperbelt International Airport to be Completed by Mid 2020". LusakaTimes.com. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Zambia's $522mn Copperbelt Intrn'l airport project slowed by COVID19". The Business Telegraph. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "New Ndola/Copperbelt International Airport New Airport Profile | CAPA". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Zambia : New Copperbelt International Airport under construction will bring change to the region". LusakaTimes.com. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  10. ↑ "African Aerospace - New Copperbelt airport set to shine". www.africanaerospace.aero. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  11. 1 2 "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  12. 1 2 "Zambia : President Lungu Commissions Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe international airport, promises to embark on Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriage as next project". 6 August 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  13. 1 2 "Zambia: 'Ndola International Airport Ready'". allAfrica.com. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  14. ↑ "Way: Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport (788124979)". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  15. ↑ "Lungu renames old Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Inter. Airport to Peter Zuze Air Force Base | Zambian Eye" . Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  16. ↑ "President Lungu renames old Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Inter. Airport to Peter Zuze Air Force Base". Mwebantu. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  17. ↑ "OLD SIMON MWANSA KAPWEPWE AIRPORT RENAMED PETER ZUZE AIR FORCE BASE ~". 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  18. ↑ "Zambia: Airlines to shift operations to new airport in Ndola Oct. 7". Zambia: Airlines to shift operations to new airport in Ndola Oct. 7 | Crisis24. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  19. 1 2 3 Hradecky, Simon (5 April 2021). "Incident: Ethiopian B738 at Ndola on Apr 4th 2021, landed at airport under construction". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Air Tanzania launches direct flights to Lubumbashi". The Citizen. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  21. ↑ https://corporate.ethiopianairlines.com/Press-release-open-page/ethiopian-launches-a-new-flight-to-maun-botswana
  22. ↑ "ProFlight Zambia adds Johannesburg service from Sep 2019".
  23. ↑ Orban, André (29 November 2021). "Ethiopian participates in re-launching of Zambia Airways". Aviation24.be. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  24. ↑ Borger, Julian (26 September 2017). "Plane crash that killed UN boss 'may have been caused by aircraft attack'". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  25. ↑ "Dag Hammarskjold Memorial | Ndola, Zambia Attractions". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  26. 1 2 Ben Schlappig (4 April 2021). "Oops: Ethiopian Airlines 737 Lands At Wrong Airport". One Mile at a Time. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  27. 1 2 Hradecky, Simon (5 April 2021). "Incident: Ethiopian B738 at Ndola on Apr 4th 2021, approached airport under construction and went around from 50 feet AGL". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2021.

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