Mozambique | Nacala Airport to start receiving int’l traffic in March 2016

Airlines operating to Mozambique are expected to start using the Nacala International Airport between March and April 2016, said the chairman of state airport management company AdM.
Emanuel Chaves also told Mozambican weekly newspaper Domingo that in December the airport was expected to receive its certification to operate as an international airport and “from that date the companies operating in the north of the country are expected to start using the airport infrastructure.”
The chairman of AdM added that his company had been in direct contact with companies that carry passengers involved in exploration of natural gas deposits discovered in the Rovuma basin “for us to ensure that Nacala will become their airport of entry into Mozambique. ”
Chaves said AdM had delivered a request that the Nacala airport is the only one in the north of the country to process international flights, “national authorities (…) as well as the basis (for the request).” The aviation market in Mozambique is currently limited to 1.7 million passengers per year.
Designed and built by Odebrecht Infra-estrutura – África, Emirados Árabes e Portugal, of Brazilian construction group Odebrecht, in partnership with AdM, Nacala International Airport opened in December 2014 and has modern architecture and equipment and capacity to serve 500,000 passengers and receive 5,000 tons of cargo per year.
Airport facilities occupy an area of 30,000 square meters, including a passenger terminal area of 15,000 square meters, a control tower and a 3,100-metre runway, dimensions that allow large aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, to use the facility.
The airport started operating with commercial flights by Mozambican airline LAM and is managed by AdM, which is responsible for the management of all airport infrastructure in Mozambique.  MDT/Macauhub