■ CONGO (KINSHASA): (Video) Korongo commissions new 2'400sqm hangar as Alpha Airports awarded contract to build temporary terminal at Kinshasa N'djili.

Congolese regional operator, Korongo Airlines (ZC) has inaugurated a new prefabricated hangar at its Lubumbashi Luano International Airport base. The airline says the new facility, which conforms to all IATA and ICAO specifications, will allow for the on-site servicing and maintenance of its current lone aircraft, a Boeing 737-300.

Korongo's hangar in FBM (MediaCongo)

Built in South Africa, the new hangar was assembled on site and measures 60m x 40m x 18m (2'400sqm in area) with a capacity to handle up to three Boeing 737-500 aircraft simultaneously. It conforms with all IATA and ICAO specifications, and stocks European-certified spare parts for all its aircraft which Korongo CEO, Christophe Allard, hoped would convince the European Union to remove it from its notorious blacklist.

Korongo is 80 percent owned by a holding company (50,5% by Brussels Airlines and to 49,5% by George Forrest International), with the remaining 20% being in the hands of Congolese investors. Its aircraft is registered in Belgium with all maintenance overseen by Brussels.

EU Blacklist specifications state, however, that it is the country's individual civil aviation authorities and not the airline alone, that must prove their compliance to EU and ICAO standards in order for any country, or carrier, to be removed from the list.

"This (i.e safety checks) is the responsibility of the Congolese authorities. That is, whenever the Belgian authorities come to the DRC to undertake inspections, they have a duty to invite their Congolese counterparts to participate in the inspection and to reassure the Congolese that it is also done under Congolese regulatory framework. And so, it would be a wonderful opportunity for the Congolese and Belgian authorities to work together on a practical exercise," said Allard.

Source [La Prosperité] 

Meanwhile, Congolese aviation newswire, Congo Airline Blog, reports that French airport equipment firm Alpha Airports, has been awarded a contract for the construction of a new temporary terminal at Kinshasa N'djili International Airport. Alpha, who have also been contracted to renovate the current terminal, are to build a terminal capable of handling one million passengers per year and nearly 600 passengers per hour. According to the CEO of the company, feasibility work is well advanced with the arrival of construction materials due shortly. 

Video [Aeroport de Ndjili: nouvel aerogare temporaire pour fin 2013]

The terminal is slated for completion by the end of this year at a total cost of USD22million.