Ndjili International Airport
Ndjili International Airport
N'djili International Airport (IATA: FIH, ICAO: FZAA) (French: Aéroport international de N'djili), also known as Kinshasa International Airport, is the principal international airport serving Kinshasa. Named after the nearby Ndjili River, it is located in the commune of Nsele on the edge of the Pool Malebo, about 20 kilometers east of the city, to which it is connected by Lumumba Boulevard. The airport is bordered by the communes of Nsele, Masina, and Kimbanseke, with nearby quartiers including Mikonga, Talangayi, Bibua, Menkao, Kinkole, and Kingasani. Operated by the state-owned Régie des Voies Aériennes (RVA), it is the busiest airport in the country by both passenger traffic and aircraft movements. Construction began in 1953, and the airport was inaugurated in 1959, replacing Ndolo Airport as the city's principal commercial airport. When it opened in 1959, its 4,700 m runway was among the longest in the world, and during the Second Republic, the airport became the country's principal international gateway. Since the early 21st century, N'djili has undergone modernization, including reconstruction of its main runway, which was shortened from 4,700 to about 3,300 m (15,420 to about 10,830 ft).
Location
4.386°S, 15.445°E · 313 m s. n. m. (1.027 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 4
Tower
Ground
Approach
Common traffic (CTAF)
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
1953–1959: Colonial planning and construction
N'djili International Airport was constructed during the Belgian colonial period in the early 1950s, when the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo was known as the Belgian Congo and its capital was Léopoldville (now Kinshasa). Construction officially began in 1953, with the airport designed by Belgian architect Léon Marcel Chapeaux, who also contributed to airport projects in Brussels and Kuala Lumpur. Costing approximately US$17 million, the complex was linked to Léopoldville by a four-lane highway named after King Leopold III (now Boulevard Lumumba), which also served as the principal route to eastern Congo. The airport was also intended to symbolize Belgium's achievements in its African colony.
The site was chosen on a sandy plateau about 20 km east of Léopoldville and parallel to the Congo River. Its natural topography required little earthmoving, while streams on either side provided effective drainage. Additional land to the south was reserved for future residential expansion. During construction in 1955–56, residents of a Teke-Humbu village were relocated to Mikonga in Nsele to make way for the airport. Planners also planned to close Ndolo Airport and extend Boulevard Lumumba into the city centre. The N'djili airport officially opened in February 1959 in the Nsele commune, with the Nd'jili commune lying just about five kilometers to the west along Boulevard Lumumba. This administrative anomaly arose because the surrounding unincorporated area was then known as the "Territoire Suburbain de Ndjili". After Nsele was established in 1967 as a commune, it sought jurisdiction over the airport, but the facility remained administratively attached to N'djili commune until 1982. At the time of its inauguration, the airport's main runway measured 4,700 meters (15,420 feet), which ranked among the world's longest at the time and was capable of accommodating the largest aircraft then in service, with operations possible from the runway's central section.
1960–1965: Independence and the Congo Crisis
After its opening, N'djili became the principal hub of the Belgian national airline Sabena, and served as the main arrival point for foreign delegations attending the Congolese independence celebrations in June 1960. On 29 June, King Baudouin arrived at the airport, where he was received by President-designate Joseph Kasavubu and Prime Minister-designate Patrice Lumumba. Delegations from around the world also arrived by air, including a Soviet mission seeking to establish diplomatic relations with the newly independent state. N'djili played a significant operational role during the early stages of the Congo Crisis. Following the mutiny of the Force Publique, thousands of expatriates fled the country. Sabena suspended its regular international services and organized a large-scale evacuation, airlifting approximately 25,000 people between 9 and 28 July 1960. When Force Publique attempted to take control of the airport, Belgian paratroopers intervened, which led to fighting inside the airport's terminal. Soon afterward, the United Nations began deploying peacekeeping forces through N'djili, with the first 700 Ghanaian troops arriving on 15 July aboard British aircraft, followed by successive United States Air Force C-130 Hercules flights carrying Tunisian soldiers. Belgian forces withdrew from the airport on 21 July after the arrival of UN contingents.
The United Nations initially based its air operations at Ndolo Airport, where a contingent of 40 Swedish Air Force pilots and mechanics operated aircraft using equipment and spare parts left behind by the Belgians. By September 1960, however, security concerns prompted the transfer of the Indian and Italian C-119 Flying Boxcar squadron to the N'djili airport, while overall UN air operations were coordinated from the large Kamina Air Base in Katanga. N'djili itself featured two large hangars situated approximately one kilometer on either side of the passenger terminal. The western hangar remained in civilian use, whereas the eastern hangar was occupied by the United States Congo Military Mission (COMISH). Prime Minister Lumumba became increasingly frustrated by restrictions on domestic travel. He initially relied on the governor-general's Force Publique de Havilland Heron aircraft, but it was transferred to Kamina along with other Belgian-controlled aircraft, many of which later formed the nucleus of the Katangese Air Force. In August 1960, the Soviet Union supplied Lumumba's government with an Ilyushin Il-14 executive aircraft, followed later that month by twelve additional Il-14 transport aircraft to support military operations against the secession of South Kasai.
Airlines operating here · 18
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Ndjili International Airport (FIH). Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH
MLA
“Ndjili International Airport (FIH).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Ndjili International Airport (FIH).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Ndjili International Airport (FIH). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH (Accessed: 17 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_fih,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Ndjili International Airport (FIH)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH}},
urldate = {2026-10-17},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/FIH |title=Ndjili International Airport (FIH) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}