Angola’s new Chinese-built international airport completed its first incoming and outgoing passenger flights on Sunday, exactly one year after its inauguration, reports Xinhua.
Named for the country’s first post-independence president, Dr Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN) is located 40 kilometres southeast of downtown Luanda, the country’s capital. The airport’s first day of passenger operations saw Angolan flagship carrier TAAG make eight round-trip flights between Luanda and Cabinda, a region of Angola separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of Congo. “This is a celebratory, historic day for our civil aviation and our country. We are all very pleased,” Angolan Minister of Transport Ricardo D’Abreu told the press.
Cargo operations at the airport started back in February and by end of March 2025, all domestic and international flights from the old Quatro de Fevereiro Airport (also in Luanda) will be transferred to the AIAAN.
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AIAAN was built by China National Aero-technology International Engineering (AVIC) at a cost of 2.5 billion euros (US$2.63 billion) with China covering nearly half. The airport was designed to handle 15 million passengers and 130,000 tons of cargo annually, a capacity essential to its ambitions to become a key aviation hub for the region.
D’Abreu told China’s Xinhua news agency that, starting early next year, the airport will become part of the newly established Ícolo e Bengo Province. What is now a municipality will be upgraded to provincial status as Angola aims to develop an “airport city” in the area to drive economic growth and create new business and investment opportunities.
TAAG CEO Nelson Oliveira, who was also one of the first passengers on the inaugural flights, told press the company is proud to call AIAAN its new “home.” He praised the “modern and advanced” airport, saying it will allow TAAG to serve its passengers “much better.”
