Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Maputo International Airport, also known as Mavalane, is Mozambique's principal gateway and the hub for LAM Mozambique Airlines, sitting close to the capital's northern edge. It offers a full ATC service, a long ILS-equipped main runway and a secondary crosswind runway, making it a straightforward and well-equipped destination for simulator pilots flying into southern Mozambique.
Maputo International Airport (ICAO: FQMA, IATA: MPM) is the largest airport in Mozambique and serves as the principal hub for LAM Mozambique Airlines and Moçambique Expresso. It is operated by Aeroportos de Moçambique (Mozambique Airports Company) and handles a mix of domestic, regional African and a small number of intercontinental services. For the simulator pilot it offers a substantial ILS-equipped runway, full air traffic control and an interesting history rooted in the colonial and independence-era period of Mozambican aviation.
The airport lies about 3 kilometres northwest of the centre of Maputo, Mozambique's capital and largest city. It is served by an approach control frequency and a centre (area control) frequency, indicating it sits within controlled airspace with radar or procedural approach service provided to arriving and departing traffic.
Maputo has two physical runways. The main runway, 05/23, is a long hard-surfaced strip of roughly 12,093 feet (05) and 12,040 feet (23), lit, with an ILS serving runway 23. The secondary runway, 10/28, is a shorter hard-surfaced runway of approximately 5,576 feet (10) and 5,567 feet (28), also lit. Field elevation is 128 feet.
Maputo provides a full range of ATC services. Tower operates on 118.1 MHz, Ground on 121.7 MHz, Approach on 121.3 MHz and Centre on 127.7 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 23 on the main 05/23 runway.
The airport was originally named Lourenço Marques Airport, after the Portuguese explorer, reflecting the city's former colonial name. During the Mozambican War of Independence it was, while under Portuguese colonial control, the target of repeated attacks by FRELIMO forces; one such attack is said to have contributed to the development of the so-called Mozambique drill used in standard firearms training. In the modern era the airport underwent a major Chinese-financed expansion, carried out by the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Company, which included a new cargo terminal and a new international terminal that opened on 15 November 2010, raising passenger capacity from around 60,000 to 900,000 a year. The project, originally intended to be ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in neighbouring South Africa, was instead completed in time for the 2011 All Africa Games held in Maputo. A second phase saw a new domestic terminal built on the site of the old terminal building. On 10 July 1986 a Douglas C-47A of the Zimbabwe Air Force crashed on take-off from the airport, killing all 17 people on board.
Maputo International Airport remains the busiest airport in Mozambique and the principal hub for LAM Mozambique Airlines, with Moçambique Expresso also based there. It handles scheduled passenger and cargo services linking Maputo to destinations across Africa, the Middle East and a small number of intercontinental points in Europe. The airport is operated by Aeroportos de Moçambique.
