Quatro de Fevereiro Airport

Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (Portuguese: Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro, Swahili: Uwanja wa Ndege wa Kimataifa wa Quatro 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 2018, about 5.6 million passengers were handled.^[1]

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	Fly Angola TAAG Angola Airlines
Elevation AMSL	243 ft / 74 m
Coordinates	08°51′30″S 13°13′52″E
Website	www.aeroporto-luanda.com
Map
LAD Location of Airport in Angola Show map of Angola LAD LAD (Africa) Show map of Africa
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 3,716 12,190 Asphalt 07/25 2,600 8,530 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers 5,600,000 Passenger change 18–19 9.4% Aircraft movements 65,843 Movements change 18–19 1.8%

Starting 2024,^[2] the airport will be replaced by the new Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport.^[3]

History

The construction of the airport began in 1951, in order to serve the capital of the former-Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola.^{[citation needed]} It was inaugurated in 1954, by the Portuguese President Craveiro Lopes, which in his honor, the airport was named Aeroporto Presidente Craveiro Lopes (President Craveiro Lopes Airport).^{[citation needed]}

In August, September, and October 1975 the airport hosted tens of thousands of mostly white Portuguese Angolans fleeing to Lisbon (during Operation Air Bridge) who camped-out while awaiting evacuation flights during the weeks before Angola's Independence.^[4][5]

Following Angola's independence from Portugal (in November 1975), the airport was renamed Aeroporto Quatro de Fevereiro Internacional (Fourth of February International Airport) to commemorate the events leading to the independence of the state.

Facilities

The airport is 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).^[6]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Luanda Quatro de Fevereiro Airport:^[7]

Airlines	Destinations
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Pointe-Noire
ASKY Airlines	Lomé,[8] Pointe-Noire[9]
Emirates	Dubai–International
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa
Fly Angola	Benguela, Catumbela,[10] Dundo, Saurimo, Windhoek–Hosea Kutako[11]
Kenya Airways	Brazzaville, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Qatar Airways	Doha
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca
TAAG Angola Airlines[7]	Abidjan, Brazzaville, Cape Town, Catumbela, Harare, Huambo, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Kinshasa–N'djili, Kuito, Lagos, Lisbon, Lubango, Lusaka, Maputo, Menongue, Moçâmedes, Ondjiva, Pointe-Noire,[12] Sal, São Paulo–Guarulhos, São Tomé, Uíge,[13] Windhoek–Hosea Kutako Seasonal: Havana[14]
TAP Air Portugal	Lisbon, Porto[15]
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul,[16] Libreville

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 26 March 1979, a cargo-configured Interflug Ilyushin Il-18 DM-STL overshot the runway following an engine failure during the take-off run. The aircraft broke up and erupted into flames, killing the ten people on board.^[17][18]
• 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.^{[citation needed]}
• 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. As of January 2025, the aircraft has not been located.^[19]
• 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.^[20][21]
• On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.^[22]