Kenneth Kaunda International Airport is an international airport located in Chongwe District, off the

Great East Road The Great East Road is a major road in Zambia and the main route linking its Eastern Province with the rest of the country. It is also the major link between Zambia and Malawi and between Zambia and northern Mozambique.Terracarta: ''Zambia, 2nd ...

, approximately northeast of the city centre of Lusaka, the capital and largest city of Zambia. The airport has a capacity of 6 million and is the largest in Zambia, serving as a hub for its region. The airport serves as a hub for

Zambia Airways Zambia Airways is the flag carrier of the Republic of Zambia. The airline is based in Lusaka, Zambia with its hub at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. Originally, the airlines was founded in April 1964, however was liquidated by the gover ...

, Proflight Zambia, Royal Zambian Airlines, and Mahogany Air. The airport opened in 1967 as Lusaka International Airport. It was renamed in 2011 in honour of

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Diss ...

, the nation's first president.

History

In May 2012,

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

began operating a flight three times a week between

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and Lusaka using an Airbus A330-200. The flight was restructured later that year to also serve

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

. In October 2014 KLM stopped operating the flight in favour of offering

codeshare A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

flights operated by

Kenya Airways Kenya Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Kenya Airways, is the flag carrier airline of Kenya. The company was founded in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways. Its head office is located in Embakasi, Nairobi, with its hub a ...

from

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

Expansion plans

In 2015, the

government of Zambia The politics of Zambia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Zambia is head of state, head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by th ...

began a three-year, US$360 million expansion and improvement of the airport, with funds borrowed from the

Exim Bank of China The Export–Import Bank of China (Chexim - China Exim Bank) () is one of two institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and provi ...

. The work, contracted to China Jiangxi International, involves construction of a new "two-story terminal building, 22 check-in counters, 12 border channels and six security check counters; a presidential terminal, a new air traffic control building and tower and a new hotel". The new terminal was expected to open in 2019. Construction was substantially complete by late January 2020. The new terminal was officially opened 5 August 2021. All international flights use the new terminal, called Terminal Two, while domestic flights use the original terminal, Terminal One.

Facilities

Terminals

Kenneth Kaunda International Airport has two terminals. Terminal One has no jet bridges and is used for domestic traffic. Terminal Two, opened in August 2021, has six gates and handles all international flights.

Ground transportation

Taxis A taxis (; ) is the movement of an organism in response to a stimulus such as light or the presence of food. Taxes are innate behavioural responses. A taxis differs from a tropism (turning response, often growth towards or away from a stim ...

are the most common form of transport to and from the city, as it is a 15 to 20-minute ride to the city centre. There are also 2 car rental companies at the airport, Avis and

Europcar Europcar Mobility Group is a French car rental company founded in 1949 in Paris. The head office of the holding company, Europcar Group S.A., is in the business park of Val Saint-Quentin at Voisins-le-Bretonneux (Saint Quentin en Yvelines), Fr ...

, but most hotels in Lusaka have shuttle services into the airport. A bus line also goes between the airport and the Chelston bus station, but the busses do not run on a regular schedule.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Accidents and incidents

* On 26 August 1969, a

Zambian Air Force The Zambian Air Force (ZAF) is the air force of Zambia and the air operations element of the Zambian Defence Force. Following the creation of the Republic of Zambia in 1964, the former Northern Rhodesia Air Force was renamed as the Zambian Air ...

Hawker Siddeley HS-748 lost control and crashed during takeoff. Three of the four occupants died. *On 22 December 1974, a Canadair CL-44D4 operated by Tradewinds Airways caught fire after its nose gear collapsed during a hard landing. The fire was quickly extinguished and all of the occupants survived. *On 14 May 1977, a Dan-Air Services/IAS Cargo Boeing 707 crashed after the right elevator and horizontal stabilizer separated during approach. The separation was caused by metal fatigue. All six occupants died. * On 17 February 1990, a

de Havilland Canada DHC-5D crashed into a field during approach. All 29 people on board died. This crash remains the worst aviation accident in Zambian History

References

External links

Kenneth Kaunda International Airport
OpenStreetMap * {{Authority control Airports in Zambia Buildings and structures in Lusaka Airports established in 1967 Lusaka