Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport

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).

This article is about the new airport in Ndola. For Ndola's original airport, see Peter Zuze Air Force Base.
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of the Republic of Zambia
ServesNdola and Kitwe
LocationNdola, Zambia
Opened7 October 2021 (2021-10-07)
Time zone(UTC+2)
Map
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport is located in Zambia
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport
Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 11,500 3,500

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 Mawnsa 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.[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.[8]

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,[9][10][6][11] when it was commissioned by President Edgar Lungu.[12][13][14][15] 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 05 August 2021, President Edgar Lungu commissioned the opening of the new airport,[12][13][14] 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 07 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.[16][17][18] Ndola remains having one commercial airport.

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.[19]

Facilities

The airport has a single runway, designated 09/27 and 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) in length.[20]

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[21]
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Mahogany Air Lusaka
Proflight Zambia Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo,[22] Lusaka, Solwezi
Zambia Airways Lusaka[23]

Accidents and incidents
  • On 18 September 1961, a UN charter flight carrying United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld crashed while en route to land at Ndola Airport in Itawa. Hammarskjöld and 15 others died in the crash. Although the cause of the crash has never been completely ascertained, it may have been caused by an aircraft attack.[24] The crash site, 15 km west of the city centre (just south of the airport's current location), has been turned into the Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial.[25]
  • On 4 April 2021, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 3981, a cargo flight operated by Boeing 737-800 ET-AYL, mistakenly landed at the as-yet unopened airport (Copperbelt International Airport) after a flight from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. It should have landed at the nearby Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Itawa instead.[26] The aircraft then took off from Copperbelt International and flew to the correct airport (Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International).[20] Two and a half hours later,[27] a second Ethiopian Airways aircraft, Boeing 737-800 ET-AQP, also approached the as-yet unopened airport for a landing, but aborted in time and flew to the correct airport.[26] It was reported that markings indicating the runway is closed were indistinct.[27] Zambia's Transport Ministry opened an investigation into the incident.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Zambia : Sata renames three Airports". 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  2. "Copperbelt International Airport". Copperbelt International Airport. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  3. "Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  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. "SMKIA - Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport". www.zacl.co.zm. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  6. "Zambia : Copperbelt International Airport to be Completed by Mid 2020". LusakaTimes.com. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  7. "Zambia's $522mn Copperbelt Intrn'l airport project slowed by COVID19". The Business Telegraph. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  8. "Zambia : Sata renames three Airports". 27 September 2011. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  9. "New Ndola/Copperbelt International Airport New Airport Profile | CAPA". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  10. "Zambia : New Copperbelt International Airport under construction will bring change to the region". LusakaTimes.com. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  11. "African Aerospace - New Copperbelt airport set to shine". www.africanaerospace.aero. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  12. "News for Airlines, Airports and the Aviation Industry | CAPA". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  13. "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.
  14. "Zambia: 'Ndola International Airport Ready'". allAfrica.com. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  15. "Way: Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport (788124979)". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  16. "Lungu renames old Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Inter. Airport to Peter Zuze Air Force Base | Zambian Eye". Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  17. "President Lungu renames old Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Inter. Airport to Peter Zuze Air Force Base". Mwebantu. 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  18. "OLD SIMON MWANSA KAPWEPWE AIRPORT RENAMED PETER ZUZE AIR FORCE BASE ~". 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  19. "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.
  20. 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.
  21. "Air Tanzania launches direct flights to Lubumbashi". The Citizen. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  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. Ben Schlappig (4 April 2021). "Oops: Ethiopian Airlines 737 Lands At Wrong Airport". One Mile at a Time. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  27. 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.

12°57′42″S 28°31′00″E

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