Lungi International Airport

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Lungi International Airport
250px
IATA: FNAICAO: GFLL
Summary
Airport type Public
Serves Freetown and Lungi
Location Lungi, Sierra Leone
Elevation AMSL 84 ft / 26 m
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Map
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 411: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Location within Sierra Leone
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 10,498 3,200 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Passengers 167,911

Freetown-Lungi International Airport (IATA: FNAICAO: GFLL) is an international airport located in the coastal town of Lungi, Sierra Leone. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to and from Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone River separates Lungi International Airport from Freetown, the nation's capital city. The airport is operated by the Sierra Leone Airports Authority. Prior to its use as a civilian airport, it was a British Royal Air Force base.

Facilities

The terminal building of the airport composed of three distinct zones :a General Waiting Hall, a Departures Wing, and an Arrivals Wing. The General Waiting Hall provides ticketing desks for local transportation (coach, ferry, helicopter, hovercraft, and taxi), postal services, a travel agency office, and a restaurant. The Departures Wing contains duty-free shops, restaurants and a lounge for Business class passengers and VIPs. The Arrivals Wing has a customs hall with a money exchange window, a lost and found baggage office, and an information office. The airport grounds also contain two banks, a police center, various restaurants, two car parks, and a mosque.

The government of Sierra Leone undertook a general upgrade of the terminal in 2010, in order to meet the basic standards of current international airports. The Departure Hall has been commissioned in February 2013. The Arrival Hall has been commissioned in May 2014.

As of September 2014, almost all regional and intercontinental flights to Freetown had been suspended as a result of the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak. The first airline to resume commercial flights after suspending them was Air Cote d'Ivoire already in October 2014[1] while Air France announced to resume services by June 2015.[2]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines Destinations
Air Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan, Monrovia
Air France Paris-Charles de Gaulle[3]
Arik Air Banjul, Dakar, Lagos (all services suspended)[4]
ASKY Airlines Accra, Lomé, Monrovia-Spriggs Payne[5] (all services suspended)[4]
British Airways London–Heathrow (suspended)[6]
Brussels Airlines Brussels
Fly Salone London–Gatwick
Kenya Airways Accra, Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta
Royal Air Maroc Casablanca, Monrovia

Cargo

Airlines Destinations
Global Africa Aviation Lagos, Liège, Sharjah[7]

Ground transportation

Due to the position of the airport on the northern coast of the Freetown estuary, passengers arriving by plane need to use boats to reach the capital. The most popular option is the ferry, but several alternatives flourish over the years like various speedboats. A road going around the estuary has been completed in 2013 an allows now passengers with cars to reach Freetown area in less than 3 hours.

Incidents and accidents

  • On August 11, 2004 at around 2:30 p.m. a Boeing 737 plane operated by Air Guinee Express crashed while failing to take off at Lungi Airport. None of the 70 passengers aboard were killed.[8]

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  • On June 3, 2007, a helicopter flight from Freetown exploded and crashed on landing at Lungi airport, killing all 22 people on board. The helicopter, a Russian Mi-8, was operated by Paramount Airlines, which shuttled passengers between Sierra Leone's coastal capital Freetown and Lungi airport.[9]

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/37380-air-france-to-resume-sierra-leone-services
  3. http://corporate.airfrance.com/en/press/press-releases/article/item/air-france-resumes-services-to-freetown-sierra-leone/
  4. 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. April 2014 Timetable, http://www.flyasky.com/asky/horaires/fna
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. Avient Aviation Schedule from LGG
  8. Concord Times, Freetown, August 17, 2004, "Crash Victim Tells Kabbah I Am Totally Disappointed in Your Government"
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons