Juba International Airport

Juba Airport (IATA: JUB, ICAO: HSSJ) is an airport serving Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. The airport is located 5 km (3 mi) northeast of the city's central business district, on the western banks of the White Nile. The city and airport are located in South Sudan's Central Equatoria State.

Juba International Airport
Juba Airport apron
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of South Sudan
ServesJuba
LocationJuba, South Sudan
Elevation AMSL1,511 ft / 461 m
Coordinates4°52′19″N 31°36′4″E
Map
  HSSJ
Location of the airport in South Sudan
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
13/31 3,100 10,171 Asphalt
Sources:[1][2]

It is one of the two international airports in South Sudan, the other being Malakal Airport. Juba Airport handles international and local airlines, cargo air traffic and chartered commercial flights. It is also used by the South Sudanese military and by the United Nations UNMISS, UN Humanitarian Air Services UNHAS, World Food Program WFP, ICRC and many NGOs for relief flights for the country.

History

The first Juba airfield was cleared in 1929.[3] The Shell Company constructed the first murram runway in 1931. In February 1931, Imperial Airways opened the first 2,670 miles of the weekly Croydon to Tanganyika Territory (now part of Tanzania) portion of the Cape to Cairo air-route, and established a mooring place near Rejaf to the south of Juba, for Imperial Airways’ Calcutta flying-boats, which carried passengers between Khartoum and Kisumu.[3] Labourers had been settling on the land that has since become the Juba airport's present location and, in 1934, when the Juba aerodrome was expanded and cleared, these residents were relocated.[4][5] By 1976, the runway had been expanded to 2,400 by 45 meters and paved with asphalt. Access roads leading to the terminal buildings were unsurfaced and "almost impassable during the rainy season."[6] The airport's "very old radio beacon" was located a short distance from the airport, which was also equipped with a weak VHF radio for pilot-to-ground communication. Field lighting was not present.[6]

In early February 1977 the airport was the site of an unsuccessful coup attempt, when ex-Anyanya forces attempted to take the airport.[7]

Airport expansion
Juba Airport Terminal under construction.

As of May 2011, Juba International Airport was undergoing improvements and expansion. The work on the airport included expansion of the passenger and cargo terminal buildings, resurfacing of the runway and installation of runway lights to facilitate night operations.[8]

As of July 2011, Juba International Airport had a new runway light system commissioned with simple approach lights for Runway 13/31, runway edge lights, taxiway lights for Exit Delta, Apron edge lights, illuminated windsocks, ATC tower rotating beacon as well as PAPI for both approaches.[9] The Aerodrome Ground Lighting system AGL manufactured by Safegate.

In July 2014, the government announced a runway extension project to commence in September 2014 lasting 30 months. The project will extend the runway by 700 meters and also resurface the existing 2400 metre runway giving a new 3100 metre runway. The new runway will still be using backtracking access to the new extended 700 portion at Runway 13. Building activities for the new terminal building have been underway since 2009 and was halted when civil war broke out in 2014. Since then the half built terminal has been left abandoned.

In 2016, Juba International Airport was ranked the second worst airport in the world in a survey conducted by The Guide to Sleeping in Airports. It was the worst airport in 2017[10] and the fourth worst in 2019.[11] During this time the terminal consisted of two adjacent tents to facilitate customs and immigration, arrivals and departures. A new, smaller terminal was built on the site of the original terminal by the Chinese. The new terminal was inaugurated on October 29, 2018.[12]

Accidents and incidents

On 19 December 2013, a Nova Airways Boeing 737-500 registration ST-NVG suffered nose-gear collapse resulting in major damage when landing at Juba. This was the same day that many people were being evacuated from Juba because of the South Sudanese Civil War. The Nova Airways aircraft blocked the runway for several hours, delaying the evacuation. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.[13]

On 4 November 2015, an An-12BK EY-406 crashed on take-off, 800 metres from the runway. The fully laden Antonov-12 went low over buildings at end of the runway and crashed in a wet area next to the Nile river. There was no fire after the crash. At least 41 people were killed. Three survived the crash, though one later died, leaving a baby girl and a man the only survivors of this crash.

On December 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 357, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 registration ET-AQC excursed from the runway during takeoff. The aircraft was substantially damaged. All 21 people on board survived.[14][15]

On August 22, 2020, an An-26 cargo plane belonging to South West Aviation crashed after taking off on a charter cargo flight to Aweil, South Sudan. 17 people were reported killed.[16]

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of 461 metres (1,513 ft) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 13/31 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,100 by 45 metres (10,171 ft × 148 ft).[1]

The runway has five serviceable taxiways; Alpha, Bravo, Delta, Echo and Foxtrot (Foxtrot is used by the military exclusively). Backtracking is used frequently for larger airliners to access the full length of the runway.

Airlines and destinations
UTair operated for United Nations Humanitarian Air Service taxiing at Juba Airport.
Swiftair operated for United Nations Humanitarian Air Service taxiing at Juba Airport.

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Badr Airlines Khartoum, Wau
EgyptAir Cairo
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa, Entebbe
Fly540 Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
flydubai Dubai–International
Golden Wings Aviation Aweil, Entebbe, Khartoum, Malakal, Paloich, Rumbek, Wau
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Nova Airways Khartoum
RwandAir Entebbe, Kigali
Sky Travel and Aviation Gulu[17]
Sudan Airways Khartoum
Tarco Airlines Khartoum
Uganda Airlines Entebbe

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Astral Aviation Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Ethiopian Cargo Addis Ababa, Bujumbura, Liege
Safe Air (Kenya) Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta

See also

References
  1. Airport information for HSSJ from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  2. Airport information for JUB at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective October 2006).
  3. Tuttle, Brendan (2019). ""As imposing a show as possible": Aviation in Colonial Sudan and South Sudan, 1916-1930". jubainthemaking.com. Juba in the Making. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  4. Mills, R.L. The People of Juba. Juba: University of Juba Population and Manpower Unit. p. 4.
  5. "Juba International Airport". jubainthemaking.com. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  6. Brian Colquhoun and Partners (3 June 1976). Report No. 1029a-SU, Appraisal of a Domestic Aviation Project Sudan (PDF) (Report). The World Bank,Eastern Africa Regional Office, Highways Division. p. 1 (Annex 3).
  7. Johnson, Douglas (2003). The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars. James Currey Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 9780852553923.
  8. "Girokonto eröffnen bei der richtigen Ban - Das Girokonto eröffnen und Geld verdienen". Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  9. "Juba International Airport, South Sudan-北京京航安机场工程有限公司". www.bjjha.com.cn. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  10. "Worst Airports for Overall Experience 2017". www.sleepinginairports.net. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  11. "Worst Airports of 2019". SleepinginAirports.
  12. Wani, Woja Emmanuel (29 October 2018). "New Airport Terminal Open Today". Juba Monitor. Juba, South Sudan. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  13. Ranter, Harro. "ST-NVG Nova Airways Boeing 737-500". aviation-safety.net.
  14. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-8-402Q Dash 8 ET-AQC ? Juba Airport (JUB)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  15. Kraft, Melanie (11 December 2019). "ALERT Ethiopian Airlines DHC8-400 skidded off runway at Juba Airport, South Sudan". Airlive - Aviation news and store. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  16. https://simpleflying.com/juba-an-26-crash/
  17. PMLDaily Reporter (20 October 2019). "Gulu-Juba Flight Service Launched". Kampala: PMLDaily.com. Retrieved 21 October 2019.


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