About Lungi International Airport

Freetown International Airport (IATA: FNA, ICAO: GFLL) (officially), locally known as Lungi International Airport, is an international airport located in the coastal town of Lungi, Sierra Leone. It is the only international airport in Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone River Separates Lungi International Airport from Freetown, the nation's capital city.

The airport is operated by the Sierra Leone Airports Authority. Prior to its use as a civilian airport, it was a British Royal Air Force base. In 2012 its management was contracted out to the British security and military company Westminster Aviation Security Services Ltd.

A new international airport was planned at Mamamah to replace Lungi International Airport. Mamamah International Airport was expected to be operational by 2022, however the project was cancelled in October 2018 following a change of government. The government Aviation Minister stated that they would refurbish Lungi instead and may build a bridge to better link the airport to Freetown. The Lungi Bridge project was announced by the president during 2019.

Facilities

Waiting area near gates

The terminal building of the airport is composed of three distinct zones: a General Waiting Hall, a Departures Wing, and an Arrivals Wing. The General Waiting Hall provides ticketing desks for local transportation (coach, ferry, fast boat and taxi), postal services, a travel agency office, and a restaurant. The Departures Wing contains duty-free shops, restaurants and lounges for business class passengers and VIPs. The Arrivals wing has a customs hall with a money exchange offices, shop, a lost and found baggage office, and an information office. The airport grounds also contain two banks, a police ceter, various restaurants, two car parks, and a mosque.

The government of Sierra Leone undertook a general upgrade of the terminal in 2010, in order to meet the basic standards of current international airports. The departure hall was commissioned in February 2013. The arrival hall was commissioned in May 2014.

From September 2014, almost all regional and intercontinental flights to Freetown were suspended as a result of the 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak. During this crisis, Brussels Airlines was the only carrier to maintain its regular operations to the airport; catering almost exclusively to NGO health workers. The first airline to resume commercial flights after suspending them was Air Cote d'Ivoire in October 2014[3] while Air France announced it would resume services by June 2015. British Airways chose not to resume flights to Sierra Leone. A national airline Fly Salone operated briefly at the start of 2016. This was the first national airline to operate for more than 10 years after Sierra National Airlines stopped flying. After last having served Freetown in December 1996, KLM restarted flights in March 2017, but discontinued them in 2019. ASKY Airlines recommenced flights in November 2017.

Access

Because the Lungi International Airport is across an estuary from the capital Freetown, passengers have the options of traveling from Lungi International Airport to Freetown through government ferry, private passenger water taxi speed boats and bus transportation. The water taxis are large boats, often with air conditioning and wifi. Most people who are traveling outside Freetown, and to other parts of Sierra Leone, use the highway through public or private transportation. The ferry is the cheapest, and the most common way of traveling from Lungi to Freetown for most Sierra Leoneans. The ferry takes about an hour journey on sea from Lungi to Freetown. The private water taxis take 30–40 minutes to Aberdeen, Murray Town or Government wharf.

Public and private transportation buses run from Lungi to Freetown, and to other parts of Sierra Leone. The highway road journey from Lungi to Freetown is generally three hours drive, but can be considerably more because of traffic in Freetown.

Accidents and incidents

Wreckage of the Air Guinee Express aircraft

On 11 August 2004 at around 2:30 p.m. a Boeing 737-200 operated by Air Guinee Express crashed while failing to take off at Lungi Airport. There were no fatalities among the 127 passengers and crew members.

On 3 June 2007 a helicopter flight from Freetown exploded and crashed on landing at Lungi airport, killing all 22 people on board. The helicopter, a Russian Mi-8, was operated by Paramount Airlines, which shuttled passengers between Sierra Leone's coastal capital Freetown and Lungi airport.

On 30 April 2017 a Brussels Airlines Airbus A330 landed at Lungi Airport after having lost a fairing at the wing root upon departure from Brussels. The aircraft was grounded for 48 hours to investigate and the Belgian Accident Investigation Board rated this as a "serious incident".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lungi_International_Airport

Looking for information on Lungi International Airport, Freetown, Sierra Leone? Know about Lungi International Airport in detail. Find out the location of Lungi International Airport on Sierra Leone map and also find out airports near to Freetown. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Lungi International Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Lungi International Airport, airlines operating to Lungi International Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Sierra Leone. Scroll down to know more about Lungi International Airport or Freetown Airport, Sierra Leone.

Nearest Airports to Lungi International Airport

Closest airports to Freetown, Sierra Leone are listed below. These are major airports close to the city of Freetown and other airports closest to Lungi International Airport.

Nearest airport to Lungi International Airport and Freetown is Mammy Yoko Heliport Airport - (14.69 Km / 9.13 Miles)

Following are the nearest airports to Freetown and Lungi International Airport. Distance between the two airports is given in bracket.

Hastings Airport - (25.77 Km / 16.01 Miles)

Sierra Leone Airport - (36.76 Km / 22.84 Miles)

Gbangbatok Airport - (126.93 Km / 78.87 Miles)

Bonthe Airport - (141.82 Km / 88.12 Miles)

Bo Airport - (174.74 Km / 108.58 Miles)

List of 11 airports in Sierra Leone along with Sierra Leone airport codes »

Major airlines flying to Lungi International Airport, Freetown

1. Royal Air Maroc
2. Brussels Airlines
3. Kenya Airways
4. Ethiopian Airlines

This page provides all the information you need to know about Lungi International Airport, Sierra Leone. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting Sierra Leone or traveling to Freetown Airport.

Details about Freetown Airport given here include

1. Lungi International Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes)
2. Coordinates of Freetown Airport - Latitude and Longitude (Lat and Long) of Lungi International Airport
3. Location of Lungi International Airport - City Name, Country, Country Codes etc...
4. Address and contact details of Lungi International Airport along with website address of the airport
5. Clickable Location Map of Lungi International Airport on Google Map.
6. General information about Sierra Leone where Lungi International Airport is located in the city of Freetown. General information includes capital of Sierra Leone, currency and conversion rate of Sierra Leone currency, Telephone Country code, exchange rate against US Dollar and Euro in case of major world currencies etc...