Kigali International Airport
| Kigali International Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Civil aviation airport | ||||||||||
| Operator | Rwanda Airports Authority | ||||||||||
| Serves | Kigali | ||||||||||
| Location | Kigali, Rwanda | ||||||||||
| Hub for | RwandAir | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,891 ft / 1,491 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 01°57′59″S 030°07′59″E / 1.96639°S 30.13306°ECoordinates: 01°57′59″S 030°07′59″E / 1.96639°S 30.13306°E | ||||||||||
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 KGL
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| Statistics (2013) | |||||||||||
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| Passengers | close to 600,000 |
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Kigali International Airport (IATA: KGL, ICAO: HRYR), formerly known as Gregoire Kayibanda International Airport, but sometimes referred to as Kanombe International Airport, is the primary airport serving Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. It is the main air gateway for all destinations in the country, and in addition serves as a transit airport for Goma and Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The airport is located in the suburb of Kanombe, at the eastern edge of Kigali, approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), by road, east of the central business district of the city of Kigali.
During the Rwandan Civil War, Kigali airport was a major strategic point. Since Rwanda is land-locked, this represented the only easy way in and out of the country. The airport had two runways, but after the Arusha Accords, one runway was closed down after a request from the RPF. Later in April 1994, the President of Rwanda's plane was shot down in the Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira. It is disputed who shot down the plane, the RPF or the FAR (Rwandan Defence Forces). This event triggered a renewal of the civil war and the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide.
In 2004, the airport served 135,189 passengers. In 2008, the airport served about 270,000 passengers. In May 2011, the Rwanda CAA announced that Kigali airport will be upgraded to meet the strong demand. Works started in October 2012 and will be completed in May 2014. In 2012, data from Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority shows that passenger traffic through Kigali International Airport grew by 30 per cent to 488,903 last year, up from 377,327 in 2011. The airport handled over 300 flights a week. The airport is designed to handle 400,000 passengers per year. According to last figures, international and domestic passenger numbers were nearly 600,000 in 2013, while flight frequencies were about 400 weekly.
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