The Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Communications has approved the proposed site for the construction of the new ultramodern Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola.
Government through the Zambia Forest and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO) last year allocated 2,000 hectares of land to facilitate the shifting of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe airport from its current base in Itawa due to the mining activities that have accelerated in the city’s light industrial area.
Committee chairperson Kapembwa Simbao said after a tour of the proposed site along the Ndola-Mufulira road yesterday that the location for the new airport was ideal in that it would make it easy for investors from other towns to access Ndola’s central business district.
“The site made available by ZAFFICO is alright in that it provides easy access to the town centre and we have seen that the site where the airport is currently located is no longer viable because the town is growing economically,” he said.
National Airports Corporation (NAC) managing director Robinson Misitala said the architectural firms which are being considered for the tender had already began submitting their proposed plans for the outlook of the new facility.
“The bidders who were shortlisted have already started presenting their designs for the new airport. However, this procedure is being done in sequence so that all the bidders have an opportunity to present their plans in order for us to make an informed decision,’ he said.
Once complete, the new look Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport to be constructed at a cost of US$520 million would house a number of facilities in tandem with the required international aviation standards.
The facility would have the capacity to accommodate two million passengers per annum with more room for expansion.
Good news for Ndola, Can’t wait to hear about what is being done about Ndola central hospital and that neglected Children’s hospital-Yengwe. What’s priority kanshi ?
I hope it will indeed be ultramodern and not a chicken run as an airport like we have in Luasaka
GRZ,am impressed,funds are available for mwansa kapwepwe airport when we have failed the health sector,our clinics are in a diver-stating state!…we definitely need to work on our clinics for they mostly provide the much needed health services to our people,rural especially.Anyway,this is a positive move,at least we ll have a modernized transport industry.Thumbs up,and its for Zambians not pf nor UNIP nor mmd…
‘diver-stating’ or ‘devastating’
working government…..ka Chiluba turned this town into a chibolya!
RB & his hule Dollar were busy cutting deals over installation of radars at a ramshackle of an airport…..the current airports are an embarrassment to our beautiful country…..
choma is also waiting for an ultramodern international airport ! so that Harry mwanga Nkumbula name is take from livingstone..
livingstone should be livingstone international airport,, Harry mwanga nkumbula international should be in choma the current provincial H/Q…NOT this PF confusion!
I PRAY GOD, THIS COMES TO FRUITION. DON’T JUST BE ANNOUNCING AND PRONOUNCING, YOU NEED TO START DOING, 2016 IS NOT FAR.
WHAT ABOUT THE KITWE-CHINGOLA DUAL CARRIAGE WAY, NO SHOW UP TO NOW. U SAID WORKS WOULD START BY DECEMBER LAST YEAR THEN SHIFTED GOAL POST TO APRIL THIS YEAR, NO ONE SEEN WORKING YET. 2016 IS AT HAND!
My own take on this decision is that the airport on the Copperbelt should have been located in Kitwe or Kalulushi because these two towns are the more centrally located on the Copperbelt than Ndola.
If you take Kitwe as an example, almost all the towns on the Copperbelt are equidistant to Kitwe.
In terms of actual distance, the average distance to Kitwe or Kalulushi from any part of the Copperbelt is about 40 kilometers.
In contrast, the average distance to Ndola from any part of the Copperbelt is 69 kilometers.
It therefore makes more economic sense and it is fairer and cheaper to most people on the Copperbelt to travel to Kitwe than Ndola to board a plane.
Am sure it’s the land issue. Just hope bakaboke won’t rise again in that area.
you are so right my bro.
am also skeptical about the geographical location of the same.
near sakania, congo.
bakasai? am very, very afraid.
For many, this would cut their transportation and other costs significantly.
This cannot be the case if they have travel all the way from, say, Chingola or Chililabombwe to Ndola. Imagine travelling from Chingola or Chilabombwe to catch a plane in Ndola – driving along the Chingola – Kitwe road, then Ndola-Kitwe dual carriageway, then when you get to Ndola, you turn towards the Mufuklira – Ndola road! Even if you movie frpom Chilabombwe via Mufulira, the trip is still pretty tortuous.
This should ideally give Kitwe or Kalulushi the privilege of hosting an international airport to fairly serve the people of the Copperbelt either by locating the airport in Kitwe or upgrading upgrading Southdowns Airport in Kalulushi into a modern international airport.
Airport in Kalulushi ? Uleke fwaka yewe.Airport shoud be in the provincial capital.
@ ba Moono,
if i read Max’s comment very well, he was apparently not suggesting that either Kt or Ndl should be the site but that this project wud suit Ktw more that Ndola. And my argument was more on a socio cultural than economic.Kitwe has had a fair share of economic boom and infrastructure. Land is no more there.Besides the municipality in Kt have always failed us in terms of keeping the city clean. Ndola is cleanest in Zed, this u know my dear and they deserve it. This makes Ndola more better placed for our next such modern airport in the north besides Lsk. Viva my former town!
I sometimes wonder how our technocrats in government think when such decisions are made. Regrettably the decision is final and cannot be reversed.
@ Max Mbizo, doesnt work like that bro! Look at OR Tambo airport in SA, its the main Int’l get way out of SA. everybody comes to OR Tambo from all over Gauteng province and other places to catch their flights to get out of SA, of course except for Cape T and Durban that have their own Int’l gateways. Pa Ndola palifye bwino ba guy. Besides, its our political admin centre
@Mukulumpe, Max is correct in suggesting that kitwe and Ndola should have been site for the new airport. His context is from a hub point of view–place must be central. Your comparison of OR tambo does not hold any water cos ORT (formely Jan Smuts) was the biggest of all three airports initially and the only and first international airport hence serving as a regional hub for most airlines. If you engage in proper urban planning and have a major greenfield project like is the case now, you have to take into consideration all economic and socio-political factors…
@mukulumpe
Ndola has nothing much to offer, those international airport some be done in livingstone or kasamba bay or solwezi for a sole purpose of tourism promotion…
Thats why those getaway international airports you mention in RSA,Durban & cape town were put there.
Why would one want to fly directly into Ndola? to do what? Ndola has no copper,, all is left with are stree kids!
Good move, these are the issues to be addressed.
Good news for my home town.First the stadium now the airport.Shame MMD,Bravo PF!!!
Levy Stadium was done by the MMD. The Airport is just a plan. There’s nothing that has been done as yet. So I think it is premature to start praising the PF. If that $520 m is indeed available , I would have spent it on roads in the province if I were the President.
Agree with @ 6 Max Mbizo. Instead of wasting billions of KRs the South Downs Airport which is already useable should have been upgraded into a modern international airport. Talk about re -inventing the wheel !!!
Development should be spread across the whole country not just concentrated in certain areas. It appears funds generated from other parts of the country are being diverted to develop preferred provinces or where certain people come from. This is dangerous and will only cause problems for our country in the future. How do you justify cancellation of the refurbishment of Zambia’s main International airport only to announce that you will be building a new one elsewhere with no logistic significance?
The NAC advertised for tenders to refurbish KK international airport.To the best of my knowledge the plans have reached an advanced stage and works should commence by next year.
I support the PF for cancelling the airport upgrade mooted by the MMD because the airport would have been leased to the investors for 50 years which is too long a time.
Furthermore the security of the nation would have been comprised.
@Ndeke, security cannot be compromised simply because an Airport is owned by a foreigner. The government is always in charge of security at all private owned airports. Heathrow is owned by a Spanish company. Gatwick is owned by an investment firm based in America and headed by a Nigerian. Customs and immigration controls are still carried out by British government arms. For God’s sake an Airport is just a plane station. Nowadays it is been turned into a shopping mall to increase revenue other than through airport fees. It can be taxed like any other business.
My town is now getting a face lift. There is no beautiful town in Zambia than NDL
I agree with you. Ndola and also Chingola are beautiful towns. Chingola used to be nice. They have just destroyed it in the recent past due to negligence and bad governance by the mmd.
i just hope they don’t close the real ndola airport and give plots to pf cadres.. in 30 yrs time, the new to be built airport will need more space. we need to keep ndola airport for domestic flights. kk killed dag stadium and now what has happened there?
Iyi nizi. Something good for my home Well-done bane !
Ndola, Kitwe and Chingola mwelah!!!!
Max Mbizo i agree with you , Kitwe is the ideal place economically and its central location, should have taken the logistics into consideration, what about those that travel to the boom town of Solwezi
This news is about transport. It is not about what is priority. The transport part of government has its own budget, which is what they will use.
They can’t stop doing their wor because the people at ministry of health are sleeping and will not improve hospitals.
So this is welcome news.
bravo pf
The process was started by the MMD ,so PF should only get credit when the project is completed.The PF have made a lot of promises and are yet to even commence one project.It is all talk but no work.
Mukulumpe,
Try to think clearly and analytically. You don’t locate an airport in a town because it is an administrative centre. Harrisburg and Albany in the States of Pennsylvania and New York in the United States are the administrative centres of these states, but the international airports located in Philadelpha and New York City which are not the administrative centres of these states because geographically and economically these are strategically located and large metropolitan centers with large populations.
Mukulumpe,
You locate an airport where you will maximize convenience to the largest number of people. If you locate an airport in Ndola, you are actually disadvantaging the majority of people on the Copperbelt. This airport is not meant to serve the population of Ndola but the population of the Copperbelt. Ever heard of central place theory?
Waltumpa #3 Chiluba started this process fu.
I think the airport should be called Copperbelt International Airport and must be built between Ndola, Luanshya and Kitwe not near Zaire. This way it will be easily utilized by all CB towns including Solwezi.
If we have such a huge sums lying around why not use it to revamp Indeni Refinery, its more of a priority ***thinking out loud***
*such huge sums
I we naiwe ka UPND kadoli you are always opposing every good thing unless it is coming from YOUR hh, wake up from your sleep! this is a good move, a MODERN AIRPORT WILL ATTRACT MORE economical opportunities than indeni oil refinery.
Didn’t know we had such huge sums of money,its almost close to the euro bond amount.
Didn’t know we had such huge sums of money,its almost close to the euro bond amount.
aren’t there other priority areas where this money could have been spent on?Like education and health?Not that this project is not important just that its less important.
Bravo PF and Ndola is the right location.
me being a politisian i dont care about the dem hospitals all i care about is having as many airports as posible so i can go abroad often. beside i dont use these dem hospitals i go abroad.its time government consider as rich pipo coz all it has done is to help the poor. pabwato
In support of Max Mbizo’s idea and arguement, to the best of a Zambian’s knowledge, its perfect sense of constructing an airport in a more centralised location in the province. Think about the economy the way it would boost on the Copperbelt. Diversity is the key thing to development. Its like in a group of people, everybody should be specialised in something. Why isn’t Kitwe a suitable location for a modern airport for its economy(which,by the way, is stronger than that of Ndola’s), big potential and central location. Just think of the strength it would add to the Copperbelt ‘s standards. Just because it ain’t the provincial capital?. it shouldn’t be always like that. Since Stopila Sunzu is just a defender, does it mean he can’t score a goal? Zambians should learn to think…
outside the box…..