Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kamuzu International Airport, also known as Lilongwe International Airport, is Malawi's principal international gateway, serving the capital city from the suburb of Lumbadzi. It offers a single long, hard-surfaced runway with ILS approach and sits at a high field elevation of over 4,000 feet, making density altitude a key consideration for visiting pilots.
Kamuzu International Airport (FWKI), also known as Lilongwe International Airport, is the main international airport serving Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. It is a hub for Malawi Airlines and handles a range of regional and international passenger and cargo services. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its single very long hard runway equipped with an ILS, and for its high elevation, which affects aircraft performance and approach planning.
The airport lies at Lumbadzi, a suburb of Lilongwe in Malawi's Central Region. It is served by approach control on 128 MHz and a radar service on 124.7 MHz, together with a tower frequency of 118.7 MHz using the callsign Lumbadzi Tower, indicating that the field operates within controlled airspace with a full air traffic service.
The airport has one physical runway, 14/32, of hard surface construction measuring 11,619 feet in length. Runway 14 is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches, while runway 32 is available for visual operations in the reciprocal direction.
Pilots should expect to work Approach on 128 MHz and Radar on 124.7 MHz, with the tower, callsign Lumbadzi Tower, operating on 118.7 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 14, supporting instrument approaches to the field.
Kamuzu International Airport was built at Lumbadzi following the relocation of Malawi's capital to Lilongwe in 1975. Construction ran from October 1977 to September 1982 in three phases, funded by a development loan from the Government of Japan, the African Development Bank, and an international banking consortium led by Chase Manhattan Bank. The Nello L. Teer Company built the runway, taxiways and apron, while the passenger terminal, control tower, navigation aids and radar facilities were financed through a Japanese ODA loan, with consulting by Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick and Partners and construction carried out by Mitsubishi Corporation. The airport officially opened in 1983. In August 2014 the Government of Malawi requested Japanese assistance to rehabilitate the passenger terminal buildings and install a more advanced ADS-B air surveillance system; the resulting project, carried out by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, ran for 33 months and included expansion and rehabilitation of the terminal along with new security and aerial surveillance systems, with the renewed terminal buildings handed over to the Government of Malawi in April 2019.
The airport functions as the hub for Malawi Airlines and is served by a number of regional and international carriers operating to destinations across Africa and beyond, alongside cargo operators. It is also home to at least one pilot training operation, Eastrise Aviation, which conducts local training flights from the field.
