Quatro de Fevereiro Airport
Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro | |||||||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Private | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | ENANA EP | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Luanda, Angola | ||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Fly Angola | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 243 ft (74 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 08°51′30″S 13°13′52″E / 8.85833°S 13.23111°E | ||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  LAD Location of Airport in Angola  LAD LAD (Africa) | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2018) | |||||||||||||||
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Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (Portuguese: Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro), (IATA: LAD, ICAO: FNLU) is the old international airport of Luanda, in Angola. It is located in the southern part of the city, situated in the Luanda Province. Quatro de Fevereiro means "4th 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] It was closed to all commercial flights on 1 March 2026, replaced by Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport, located 40 km south of Luanda[2][3][4].
History
The construction of the airport began in 1951, in order to serve the capital of the former Portuguese Overseas Province of Angola[5][6]. 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)[7][8][9][10].
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.[11][12]
Following Angola's independence from Portugal (in November 1975), in 1976 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[13][14][15].
In March 2026, all airline operations were transferred to the new airport Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport[4].
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).[16]
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[19][20].
- 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.[21]
- 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.[22][23]
- On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.[24]
References
- ↑ Macauhub: Over 2 million passengers processed at Luanda Airport Angola in first half of 2010 30 November 2009
- ↑ "Concluída transferência de operações de passageiros para o Novo Aeroporto". O País (in Portuguese). 1 March 2026. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
- ↑ "Airlink Moves Flights To Luanda's New Airport". Airlink. 17 February 2026. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Concluída transferência das operações das companhias aéreas para o novo aeroporto". GiraNoticias (in Portuguese). 2 March 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
- ↑ https://www.aeroporto-luanda.com/en/luanda_international_airport.php
- ↑ https://www.buala.org/pt/a-ler/a-roupa-nova-de-luanda
- ↑ https://hpip.org/pt/heritage/details/1982
- ↑ https://www.vidaeconomica.pt/vida-economica-1/cronicas/portugueses-promotores-de-civilizacao-progresso-e-desenvolvimento-em-africa
- ↑ https://portalmaianga.ao/ova_dir/aeroporto-4-de-fevereiro/
- ↑ https://jetsplore.com/en/airport/private-jet-charter-to-angola-luanda-airport/
- ↑ "Flight from Angola". The Economist. 16 August 1975. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- ↑ "More Planes and Troops Sought for Angola Airlift". The New York Times. 10 September 1975. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ↑ https://angop.ao/en/noticias/transporte/att-nao-mexer-aeroporto-4-de-fevereiro-passa-a-centro-de-manutencao/
- ↑ https://portalmaianga.ao/ova_dir/aeroporto-4-de-fevereiro/
- ↑ https://www.aeroporto-luanda.com/aeroporto_internacional_de_luanda.php
- ↑ Airport information for FNLU[link removed] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
- ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 18D DM-STL Luanda-4 de Fevereiro Airport (LAD)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- ↑ "Accident description of the 1979 Interflug crash". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ↑ https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-boeing-727-82-luanda
- ↑ https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9469061](https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9469061
- ↑ "History of flight: The 727 that vanished". Airspacemag.com. September 2010.
- ↑ "Parked BA 777 damaged in ground collision at Luanda". FlightGlobal.com. 29 June 2009.
- ↑ "Accident: British Airways B772 and Hainan A346 at Luanda on Jun 27th 2009, wings collided". avherald.com. 29 June 2009.
- ↑ Hradecky, Simon. "Accident: Guicango YK40 at Luanda on Jan 31st 2010, gear collapse on landing". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
External links
Media related to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- "Current weather for FNLU". NOAA/NWS.
- Accident history for LAD at Aviation Safety Network
- Luanda Airport website Archived 17 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine by the operator ENANA EP