The project to modernize the Loano Airport in Haut-Katanga’s Lubumbashi officially began on April 18, 2025. Summa Group, a Turkish firm, is running the long-awaited project. Selim Bora, Summa Chairman and CEO, presented the project to President Félix Tshisekedi, who laid the symbolic foundation stone.

“The Congolese government has signed a contract with a specialist firm for this work,” the presidency announced, though details of the contract and the selection process remain undisclosed. In July 2022, Summa had signed two contracts with the state for infrastructure projects, though those did not move forward.

According to Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba, the modernization project includes building a new terminal, runway widening, tarmac development, and upgraded navigational aids.

Other well-informed sources added that the terminal will handle up to one million passengers, with a tarmac sized for four wide-body aircraft. The plan also includes a cargo terminal (capacity 5,000 tonnes), maintenance center, storage hangar, wastewater treatment plant, upgraded fire safety systems, and modernized access roads.

Local media report a 20-month timeline, with construction employing about 1,200 workers. The same sources stressed that upon completion, around 600 permanent jobs are expected.

This project is part of a broader strategy to modernize major airports nationwide, including Kinshasa’s N’Djili Airport. Lubumbashi, the DRC’s second-largest city, is a vital hub for mining and trade. Past upgrades in 2015 added a control tower and technical block at Loano.

Provincial authorities hope the new airport will establish Haut-Katanga as a key business, tourism, and transit center.

This article was initially published in French by Pierre Mukoko

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho