■ CONGO (KINSHASA): RVA, Welthungerhilfe sign $15mln contract to rehabilitate Goma Airport runway.

After the successful issuance of a tender in August, German NGO Welthungerhilfe (German for "World Hunger Aid") and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's air navigation services and airport management provider, Regie des Voies Aériennes (RVA), have signed a USD15million contract to rehabilitate 500m of Goma International Airport's runway 18/36, previously covered with hardened lava.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): MONUSCO upgrades Bunia Airport for night time ops.

The regional director of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Martin Kobler, has officially inaugurated new air traffic control equipment for the international airport at its headquarters in Bunia, in the eastern Ituri region of Orientale Province of the DRC.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): IATA-backed safety audit of all Congolese carriers begins in Kinshasa.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo began its IATA-backed operational safety audit of all Congolese carriers at Kinshasa N'djili International Airport on Friday, July 5. During a working tour of the airport's and airlines' various facilities, Justin Kalunga, the Congolese Minster of Transport, was accompanied by Richard Nyanguile, the Director General of the Congolese Civil Aviation Authority ( l’Autorité de l’Aviation Civile - AAC) and Abdalla Bilenge, the Director General of the Congolese airports authority (Régie des Voies Aériennes - RVA).

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): RVA signs $2million contract with Thales for Kinshasa N'djili Airport AeroNav upgrade.

As part of ongoing efforts to spruce up its poor aviation safety record, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's air navigation services and airport management provider, Regie des Voies Aériennes (RVA), has signed a USD2million (CDF1.8billion) contract with French aeronautical systems manufacturer, Thales, for the supply of navigation equipment to Kinshasa N'djili International Airport.

► CONGO (KINSHASA): SA Express resumes Lubumbashi ops as RVA beckons carriers to return.

SA Express (XZ) has announced a tentative resumption of its flights to Lubumbashi on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays following an announcement by the Congolese airport's authority, Regie des Voies Aériennes (RVA), that Luano International Airport's runway 07/25 would not be closed entirely during rehabilitation works.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): Lubumbashi Airport to close 3 days a week from May to October as RVA finally upgrades crumbling infrastructure.

Lubumbashi International Airport (also known as Luano International Airport) is to be closed for three days a week between May and October 2013 due to maintenance and upgrading works being done to the airport terminal and runway 07/25.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): (Video) Korongo commissions new 2'400sqm hangar as Alpha Airports awarded contract to build temporary terminal at Kinshasa N'djili.

Congolese regional operator, Korongo Airlines (ZC) has inaugurated a new prefabricated hangar at its Lubumbashi Luano International Airport base. The airline says the new facility, which conforms to all IATA and ICAO specifications, will allow for the on-site servicing and maintenance of its current lone aircraft, a Boeing 737-300.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): RVA launches study for new cargo facility at N'djili International Airport.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's aviation authority, Régie des Voies Aériennes de la République Démocratique du Congo (RVA), has embarked on a €280'000 study for the construction of a new cargo facility at Kinshasa's N'djili International Airport.

■ CONGO (KINSHASA): (Pics) N'djili Airport Runway 06/24 rehabilitation nearing completion.

Kinshasa's N'Djili International Airport's runway 06/24 refurbishment.

Kinshasa's N'Djili International Airport's runway 06/24 refurbishment is nearing completion, after more than 58 years of neglect, mismanagement and successive wars left it seriously damaged (cracks, rot, potholes, subsidence, reduced exploitable length),  thereby making landing and takeoffs both difficult and dangerous.