Kempa Airport

The closure was not due to a single event but rather a combination of factors. The primary reasons include:
1. **Lack of Maintenance:** As an unpaved, laterite/dirt airstrip, it required constant upkeep which ceased due to the collapse of state services and security.
2. **Economic Decline:** The local economic activities that the airport supported, likely agriculture, missionary work, or logging, were severely disrupted or halted by the regional conflicts.
3. **Civil Unrest:** The Congo Wars made operating in remote regions extremely hazardous, leading to the abandonment of non-essential infrastructure like small, local airfields.

The airport is completely abandoned and non-functional. Analysis of recent satellite imagery confirms that the runway is entirely overgrown with dense vegetation (shrubs and tall grass) and is unusable for any type of aircraft. While the faint outline of the approximately 1,200-meter runway is still visible from the air, the site has been effectively reclaimed by nature. There are no signs of current aviation activity, and any former terminal or support buildings have likely fallen into ruin or been repurposed by the local village.

Kempa Airport was a typical rural airstrip crucial for providing access to a remote area with little to no reliable road network. Its primary role was to support local economic or social activities. It would have handled light transport aircraft, such as the Douglas DC-3, Britten-Norman Islander, or Cessna Caravan, which were common workhorses in the region. These aircraft would have transported personnel, medical supplies, mail, and high-value goods, connecting Kempa to regional hubs like Inongo or the capital, Kinshasa. For the local community, it represented a vital link to the outside world for commerce and emergency services.

There are no known official plans or credible prospects for reopening Kempa Airport. The significant cost of clearing the vegetation, rehabilitating the runway surface, and rebuilding any necessary infrastructure is prohibitive without a strong economic or strategic incentive. Given the DRC's focus on rehabilitating larger, more strategic airports, a small, remote airstrip like Kempa is not a priority for redevelopment.