Lungi International Airport

Lungi International Airport
IATA: FNAICAO: GFLL
Summary
Airport type Public
Serves Freetown and Lungi
Location Lungi, Sierra Leone
Elevation AMSL 84 ft / 26 m
Coordinates 08°36′59.20″N 13°11′43.76″W / 8.6164444°N 13.1954889°W / 8.6164444; -13.1954889
Map
FNA

Location within Sierra Leone

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 10,498 3,200 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Passengers 167,911

Freetown-Lungi International Airport (IATA: FNA, ICAO: GFLL) is an international airport located in the coastal town of Lungi, Sierra Leone. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to and from Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone River separates Lungi International Airport from Freetown, the nation's capital city. The airport is operated by the Sierra Leone Airports Authority. Prior to its use as a civilian airport, it was a British Royal Air Force base. In 2012 its management was contracted out to the British security and military company Westminster Aviation Security Services Ltd.

Facilities

The terminal building of the airport composed of three distinct zones :a General Waiting Hall, a Departures Wing, and an Arrivals Wing. The General Waiting Hall provides ticketing desks for local transportation (coach, ferry, helicopter, hovercraft, and taxi), postal services, a travel agency office, and a restaurant. The Departures Wing contains duty-free shops, restaurants and lounges for business class passengers and VIPs. The Arrivals wing has a customs hall with a money exchange offices, a lost and found baggage office, and an information office. The airport grounds also contain two banks, a police center, various restaurants, two car parks, and a mosque.

The government of Sierra Leone undertook a general upgrade of the terminal in 2010, in order to meet the basic standards of current international airports. The departure hall was commissioned in February 2013. The arrival hall was commissioned in May 2014.

From September 2014, almost all regional and intercontinental flights to Freetown were suspended as a result of the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak. Brussels Airlines did maintain flights during this period. The first airline to resume commercial flights after suspending them was Air Cote d'Ivoire already in October 2014[1] while Air France announced to resume services by June 2015.[2] British Airways chose not to resume flights to Sierra Leone. A national airline Fly Salone operated briefly at the start of 2016.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Côte d'IvoireAbidjan, Monrovia
Air FranceParis–Charles de Gaulle
Arik AirAccra, Lagos
Brussels AirlinesBrussels
Kenya AirwaysAccra, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Royal Air MarocCasablanca, Monrovia

Ground transportation

Because of the position of the airport on the northern coast of the Freetown estuary, passengers arriving by plane need to use boats to reach the capital. The most popular options are the water taxis followed by the government ferry and other options include speed boats. A road going around the estuary was upgraded in 2013 and allows passengers with cars to reach Freetown area in less than 3 hours. In the past, helicopters and a hovercraft (obtained from the Isle of Wight in the UK) operated between Lungi and Aberdeen in Freetown.

Accidents and incidents

References

  1. Mieu, Baudelaire (17 October 2014). "Ivory Coast Airline to Resume Flights to Ebola-Affected Nations". Bloomberg.
  2. http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/37380-air-france-to-resume-sierra-leone-services
  3. Concord Times, Freetown, August 17, 2004, "Crash Victim Tells Kabbah I Am Totally Disappointed in Your Government"
  4. "Helicopter crashes in Sierra Leone, 20 killed". Reuters. 3 June 2007.

External links

Media related to Lungi International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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