Departure
99%
vs 95% ▲ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Lubumbashi International Airport (FZQA/FBM) serves the city of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Haut-Katanga Province, and is the country's principal gateway to its southern mining region. Built in colonial times as Elisabethville Airport, it later became a focal point of the Katanga war, and today operates as a large international airport with a single long, lit hard runway and an ILS approach.
Lubumbashi International Airport, also historically known as Luano Airport, is the main airport for Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Haut-Katanga Province. It is a large international field handling scheduled airline traffic across the region, and its long single runway with an ILS makes it a straightforward destination for a simulated approach, while its colonial-era origins and role in the Katanga war give it a distinct historical character.
The airport lies at Lubumbashi, in Haut-Katanga Province in the far south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at coordinates 11°35'28.8" S, 27°31'51.5" E. It is served by both an approach and a tower frequency, indicating controlled airspace around the field, though detailed airspace classification is not covered in the available sources.
The airport has a single physical runway, 07/25, aligned east-west. It is 10,491 feet long with a hard (asphalt) surface and is lit along its full length. An ILS is provided for runway 07.
Air traffic services are provided on APP 128.1 MHz and TWR 118.1 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 07, supporting instrument approaches to that runway.
No specific joining, circuit height or noise abatement procedures are given in the available sources.
No published visual reference points or local landmarks for joining are given in the available sources.
The airport was founded in colonial times as Elisabethville Airport and was also known as Luano Airport. It played a high-profile role during the Katanga war: after being seized by United Nations Force in the Congo (ONUC) troops, it was used as a base against the secessionist Katangese government. On 15 September 1961 a Katangese Air Force Fouga CM.170 Magister dropped two 100 lb bombs on the airport, one of which scored a direct hit on an Air Katanga DC-4-1009 (registration OO-ADN), destroying the aircraft though causing no casualties. In December 2001 an Air Katanga Douglas C-53-DO (ZS-OJD) was written off in a landing accident at the airport following a delivery flight from South Africa.
Lubumbashi International Airport now functions as a large international airport with scheduled airline service linking it to destinations including Kinshasa, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Kigali, Lusaka, Ndola, Dar es Salaam and other regional points, alongside domestic routes within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. No details on flying club activity, fuel availability, opening hours, PPR requirements or simulator scenery are given in the available sources.
