Kamembe Airport
Airport in Kamembe, Rwanda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kamembe International Airport(ⓘ), (IATA: KME, ICAO: HRZA), is an airport in Rwanda. RwandAir operates a Dash 8-Q400 with seven flights per week to and from Kigali International Airport. The airport receives charter flights from Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, though not on a regular schedule. During the Rwandan Civil War, Kamembe airport was suggested as a site for transiting French arms to the interim government after April 1994.[1]
Kamembe International Airport | |||||||||||
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 Kamembe airport terminal seen from the runway, 2017 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Civil | ||||||||||
| Owner | Rwandan Government | ||||||||||
| Operator | Rwanda Airports Authority | ||||||||||
| Serves | Cyangugu | ||||||||||
| Location | Kamembe, Rwanda | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 5,192 ft / 1,583 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 02°27′23″S 28°54′35″E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  KME Location of the airport in Rwanda | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Location
Kamembe Airport is located approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi), by road, north of Cyangugu's central business district, Rusizi District, in the Western Province of Rwanda.[2] The airport is located approximately 147.5 kilometres (92 mi), by air, southwest of Kigali International Airport, the largest airport in the country.[3] It sits at an altitude of 5,192 feet (1,583 m) above mean sea level.[4] The geographical coordinates of Kamembe Airport are: 02°27'23.0"S, 28°54'35.0"E (Latitude:-2.456389; Longitude:28.909722).[5]
Overview
Kamembe is a medium airport with one paved runway 02/20 that measures 4,921 feet (1,500 m) long and 148 feet (45 m) wide.[4]
History
The airport terminal building was heavily damaged by a 2008 earthquake,[6] and early in 2010 the Rwanda government announced that Kamembe Airport would be repaired and modernized.[7]
By the end of 2012 a new terminal was completed, a new control tower was opened, and Techno Sky, a branch of the Italian publicly owned ENAV corporation, had installed new navigation systems.[8]
During a May 2013 visit, Infrastructure Minister Albert Nsengiyumva announced that the runway would be widened and lengthened from 1.5 kilometres (4,900 ft) to 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) by 2015.[9] The airport re-opened in June 2015 and RwandAir began scheduled flights from the airport.[10]
