Departure
100%
vs 95% ▲ 5
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (FLLS) is Zambia's principal gateway, serving the capital Lusaka from a site in Chongwe District to the northeast of the city centre. It operates a single very long hard-surfaced runway with full lighting and an ILS, handling everything from regional turboprops to wide-body international jets, making it a notable waypoint for simulator pilots flying across southern Africa.
Kenneth Kaunda International Airport is the principal international airport serving Lusaka, the capital and largest city of Zambia, and is operated by Zambia Airports Corporation Limited. It opened in 1967 as Lusaka International Airport and was renamed in 2011 in honour of Kenneth Kaunda, the country's first president. For a simulator pilot, the airfield is of interest as a major regional hub with a single exceptionally long runway and modern terminal infrastructure, acting as a stopover point for flights linking southern, eastern and central Africa.
The airport lies in Chongwe District, off the Great East Road, approximately 27 kilometres northeast of Lusaka's city centre. As the country's principal international aerodrome it sits within controlled airspace associated with Lusaka, befitting an airport capable of handling wide-body international traffic such as the Airbus A330 and Boeing 777.
The airfield has a single physical runway, 10/28, of hard surface construction and lit for night operations. Runway 10 is 13,138 feet long and equipped with an ILS, while runway 28 is 13,040 feet long. This runway, among the longest in the region, allows the airport to accept the full range of airliners up to large wide-body jets. Field elevation is 3,780 feet.
Runway 10 is served by an ILS, supporting instrument approaches in appropriate weather conditions. No further frequency or navaid detail is available from the sources consulted.
The airport opened in 1967 as Lusaka International Airport, built as part of a major construction programme following Zambian independence that also included government buildings and the University of Zambia. It was renamed Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in 2011 in honour of Kenneth Kaunda (1924-2021), the nation's first president. The airfield has a troubled accident history: a Zambian Air Force Hawker Siddeley HS-748 crashed on takeoff on 26 August 1969, a Tradewinds Airways Canadair CL-44D4 caught fire after a hard landing on 22 December 1974, a Dan-Air/IAS Cargo Boeing 707 crashed on approach on 14 May 1977 after an in-flight structural failure, and a Zambian Air Force de Havilland Canada DHC-5D crashed on approach on 17 February 1990 with the loss of all 29 on board, the worst aviation accident in Zambian history. A South African Airways Airbus A320 suffered a landing gear collapse after skidding off the runway on 1 March 2000.
Beginning in 2015 the Zambian government undertook a three-year, US$360 million expansion and modernisation of the airport, financed by the Exim Bank of China and built by China Jiangxi International, which included a new two-storey terminal, a presidential terminal, and a new air traffic control building and tower. The new international terminal, Terminal Two, opened officially on 5 August 2021 and handles all international flights, while the original Terminal One continues to serve domestic traffic. The airport now serves as a hub for Zambia Airways and Proflight Zambia, with scheduled services to destinations across Africa and the Middle East operated by carriers including Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Qatar Airways and South African Airways.
