Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kigali International Airport (HRYR/KGL) is Rwanda's principal gateway, sited at Kanombe on the eastern outskirts of the capital. It offers a single long paved runway with ILS on one approach direction, making it accessible to a wide range of aircraft, and it remains a key hub for RwandAir and regional carriers pending completion of a new airport at Bugesera.
Kigali International Airport, also historically known as Grégoire Kayibanda International Airport or Kanombe International Airport, is the main airport serving Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. It lies at Kanombe on the eastern edge of the city and functions as the country's principal international gateway as well as a regional hub for flights to and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Uganda. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its high elevation, its single long instrument runway, and its setting on a hilltop close to a dense urban area.
The airport sits at Kanombe, on the southeastern outskirts of Kigali, roughly 5 km from the city centre by expressway and about 10 km from the central business district. It occupies elevated ground within the city, with residential areas and the Kanombe military camp close to the perimeter, a factor that historically made the site strategically significant. No specific airspace classification or controlled airspace boundaries are given in the available material, but as Rwanda's primary international airport it is served by approach, tower and ground control as listed below.
The field has one physical runway, 10/28. Runway 10 is 11,645 ft long with a hard surface and runway lighting. Runway 28 is 10,732 ft long, also hard-surfaced and lit, and is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Kigali provides a full suite of radio services: Approach on 124.3 MHz, ATIS on 128.7 MHz, Ground on 121.7 MHz and Tower on 118.3 MHz. An ILS is available for runway 28, supporting instrument approaches to that runway.
No specific joining or circuit procedures, circuit heights, or noise abatement restrictions are given in the available material.
No published visual reference points are given in the available material, though the airport's hilltop position within the Kanombe district of eastern Kigali, and its proximity to the Kanombe military camp, are useful general landmarks for orientation.
According to Rwandan historian Bernardin Muzungu, the first aircraft landed at Kanombe airport in Kigali in 1934. After Rwanda's independence in 1962 the airport was upgraded and renamed Grégoire Kayibanda International Airport, after the country's first president, and it is also commonly referred to as Kanombe Airport after its location in the Kanombe area of eastern Kigali. During the Rwandan Civil War the airport was a strategic site because of its role as Rwanda's main international airport and its proximity to the Kanombe military camp and the then presidential residence.
Kigali International Airport continues to operate as Rwanda's main airport, handling international and domestic passenger and cargo traffic, with RwandAir as the principal home carrier. A new airport is under construction at Bugesera, around 40 km south of Kigali, intended to eventually replace Kanombe for the bulk of commercial traffic; once that facility opens, the existing Kigali airport is expected to remain operational for special arrivals, some chartered flights, and a pilot training school. No simulator scenery availability is mentioned in the available material.
