Angola’s New Airport Gateway Takes Shape, Prepares For New Operator

LUANDA, Angola—Angola’s government is preparing to announce the winning bidder to manage and operate the capital’s newly opened gateway—Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN)—in the coming months, with consortia from the U.S. and China the main contenders to develop the southern African hub.

Angola has been running an evaluation of two joint venture (JV) bids over the past year as it seeks the best solution for the airport’s 20-year management concession, Rui Carreira, Secretary of State for Civil Aviation, Maritime and Port Sectors, told Aviation Week at the African Airlines Association annual meeting in Luanda, Angola, in early December.

Located about 40 km (25 mi.) southeast of capital Luanda, the new airport is taking over all scheduled passenger services from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, located near the city center.

Angolan flag-carrier TAAG transferred its international flights to the new airport on Oct. 8, while foreign operators such as Emirates, Lufthansa, Air France, TAP and Qatar Airways followed later in November and into early December.

The airport began its phased opening in late 2023 beginning with air cargo operations, while TAAG transferred its domestic flights in November 2024, said Vissolela Chivunda, director of planning and quality at Airport Temporary Operator (ATO), the company operating AIAAN until it is handed over to the winning bidder.

The first phase of the airport sees a single terminal with an annual capacity of 15 million passengers, while the cargo terminal has a capacity of 130,000 tons annually.

In 2026, AIAAN is expected to handle about 4 million passengers with the capital’s airport system recovering to pre-pandemic traffic levels in 2024, Chivunda said. The airport has two runways with one currently in operation today.

In terms of handlers at AIAAN, TAAG has signed a strategic partnership with global services firm Menzies Aviation to establish a handling firm—Menzies Aviation Angola—at the hub. The partnership also includes Angolan state airport operator Sociedade Gestora de Aeroportos (SGA). Aviapartner has also begun handling operations at AIAAN.

The investment in airport infrastructure, in parallel with the transformation of TAAG and the upgrading of Angola’s civil aviation regulatory systems, are part of the country’s desire to transform the country’s air transport ecosystem and develop an intra-African and global hub, Carreira said during AFRAA.

The development of the airport will be complemented by a plan to create an airport city. The master plan for this has been produced by London-based consultancy Foster and Partners.

The kick-off phase of the airport city will begin in the first quarter of 2026 with the construction of a logistics center.