Lombo, CD 🇨🇩 Closed Airport
CD-0051
-
2331 ft
CD-NU
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Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 4.43889° N, 19.5389° E
Continent: AF
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: FZFN
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The exact date of closure is not officially recorded. However, based on analysis of satellite imagery showing significant overgrowth and decay, the airport has been abandoned for many years, likely since the late 20th century. It is not a recent closure.
No single official reason is documented. The closure is almost certainly due to a combination of factors common to remote infrastructure in the DRC:
1. **Economic Decline & Lack of Use:** The airstrip likely served a specific purpose (e.g., missionary work, mining exploration, or local administration) that is no longer active. Without a consistent economic driver, the airstrip fell into disuse and was abandoned.
2. **Political Instability:** The region has experienced decades of conflict and instability, including the Congo Wars, which led to the widespread collapse and abandonment of non-essential infrastructure.
3. **Maintenance Costs:** As a rudimentary dirt or grass strip, it required constant maintenance to remain usable, which became unsustainable without a funding source or user base.
The site is completely abandoned and non-functional as an airport. Satellite imagery confirms the runway is heavily overgrown with vegetation and is no longer distinguishable from the surrounding bush except by its linear shape. There are no remaining buildings, hangars, or support facilities visible. The land has effectively reverted to nature and is not used for any formal purpose.
Lombo Airport was not a commercial airport but a basic, unpaved airstrip, often referred to as a 'bush strip'. Its historical significance was purely logistical and local.
- **Operations:** It would have handled only small, Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) capable aircraft, such as Cessna 206s, Caravans, or Piper Cubs.
- **Purpose:** These types of airstrips were typically used by missionary aviation groups (like MAF - Mission Aviation Fellowship) for humanitarian and medical aid, by small-scale mining or logging operations for supplies and personnel transport, or previously for colonial administrative access to remote areas. It never supported scheduled commercial flights or large aircraft.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Lombo Airport. The prospects are considered extremely low to non-existent due to:
- The lack of any significant population center, industry, or tourism in the immediate vicinity.
- The high cost of clearing the land, rebuilding the runway, and ensuring security.
- The existence of other, larger (though often also in disrepair) airports in the wider region that would be prioritized for any potential government or private investment in aviation infrastructure.
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