Angola’s new international airport has completed the first phase of certification.
The Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN) in the capital Luanda has had successful landing and take-off tests.
The tests were conducted since August, and the airport has now been certified for landing and take-offs.
There are, however, more certification stages that the airport needs to go through before it can formally begin operations.
The airport has to meet safety, regulatory and efficiency standards.
The Angolan government projects that by October 2023 AIAAN would have passed all the certification stages.
15m passengers annually
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the global body that creates regulations for aviation safety, security, efficiency and regularity and environmental protection, published AIAAN’s flight check report on Thursday, September 7.
AIAAN, located in Bom Jesus district, occupies an area of 1,324 hectares, and has a capacity of 15 million passengers and a cargo volume of 500,000 tonnes annually.
It has two runways, one being 4.2 kilometres long and the other 3.8 kilometres long.
The airport has been under construction since 2008. Chinese and Brazilian companies were contracted for the construction. The firms projected that the airport would begin operations in November 2023.
In July 2023, Angola’s transport ministry said construction was 85% complete.
