Luanda - The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, said on Friday in Luanda that the government plans to build airports in the municipalities of Mavinga and Cazombo, in the province of Cuando Cubango and Moxico respectively.
"We are considering very seriously the possibility of building the airports of Mavinga, in Cuando Cubango, and Cazombo, in Alto Zambeze, in the province of Moxico", he stated, highlighting that the transport sector has, lately, made some gains, and cited the Lobito Corridor concession, with a European consortium, as being the most recent.
The Head of State, who was speaking to the press, after the inauguration of the Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN), also referred to the Águas Profundas do Caio Port, in the province of Cabinda, whose works are ongoing.
João Lourenço assured that the Executive is working towards, in the near future, completing the construction works of the new airports in Banza Congo, in the province of Zaire, and Catumbela, in Benguela, which will have two airports, one since each one already has one.
He also highlighted the ongoing road connections, given the tourist potential in the Okavango-Zambezi region, between the Luau-Marco25-Cazombo and Cuito Cuanavale-Mavinga-Rivungo roads, the latter in the demining phase, in the province of Cuando Cubango, as well as the Barra do Dande Development Pole, in the province of Bengo.
The President mentioned that this is a logistics-industrial hub with a strong transport component, both port and railway, which will also represent a great gain when the infrastructures are built, with great participation from the private sector, representing something very important for the economic and social development of the country.
As for the new airport, João Lourenço said that, when studies so advise, there will still be work to be carried out, namely the possibility of building another terminal and a runway, in order to allow around 65 million passengers to travel through it passengers/year.
"The rise will be gradual, we will start with the already known five million passengers’ year, 15 and we will go up until we reach this figure that has already been studied, programmed, but at that point, to reach it we will have to build, I don't know when, another terminal and a runway", he said, considering that the challenges are great, but these are investments that pay off, since the national economy will benefit from this.
Inaugurated this Friday by the President of the Republic, the new airport, located in the urban district of Bom Jesus, municipality of Icolo e Bengo, province of Luanda, comes into operation in phases, with the 1st reserved for cargo services, until February 2024. The infrastructure occupies an area of 1,324 hectares, has capacity for 15 million passengers and a cargo volume of 130 thousand tons per year.
According to its operating schedule, the 2nd phase begins in February 2024, with domestic flight operations, and the last stage, scheduled for next June, will be marked by the start of international flight operations. VC/VIC/ADR/TED/DOJ
