Construction of the new airport for the city of M'banza-Kongo (Zaire Province), Angola will begin after February 2013. The 800hectare site, situated in N’kiende II, 32 kilometres outside the city centre, is currently being cleared of land mines.
According to Lusophone newswire, Macauweb:
"Technicians from the company said that the work is going well and is due to end in February of next year. The work will include clearing brush in an area of around 4,000 metres for the runway and another 2,000 metres to access the main road.
The deputy provincial governor for infrastructure, Ângela Maria Botelho Diogo, said that work to remove any potential mines and explosives would make way for clearing the land itself, and that construction work for the airport would involve a plot of around 800 hectares."
Mbanza-Kongo, located in the North North West of the country near Angola's northern most boundary with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is presently served by Mbanza Kongo airport, which is located in the centre of the city. The facility, despite a USD10million upgrade carried out between 2009 and 2011, has proven to be insufficient for the city's needs, thus necessitating the construction of the new airport.
