This year’s Aviation Africa provided a platform for Bugesera Airport Company to showcase the latest model of the airport.
International design consultancy Dar Group is behind the design of the new airport, which is situated approximately 25km southeast of the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
The airport, which will serve as a regional hub for East Africa, is being built in two phases with phase one due to be complete in 2026. Covering an area of 2,500 hectares the airport will have a capacity initially to handle 8.2 million passengers and 150,000 tonnes of cargo annually when phase one is complete. In its second phase the greenfield airport will have the capacity to handle 14 million passengers and 300,000 tonnes of cargo.
Dar came on board to redesign the airport model in 2019 having designed, constructed and innovated more than 300 airports across six continents. Under the new design, the airport features a 4,500m code 4F runway 120,000 sq.m. terminal building, which will be complemented by a 6,500 sq.m. Presidential Terminal Building for VIP passengers, as well as cargo and MRO facilities an animal handling centre.
Once complete Bugesera International Airport will take over most domestic and international passenger as well as cargo operations from the existing Kigali International Airport. The latter will however remain operational catering for other aviation business, including humanitarian, private and training flights as well as MRO operations.
