The Secretary of State for Maritime and Port Aviation, Carlos Borge, in statements to the press, revealed that the work will focus on improving the airport's runway. The idea is that the airport will once again have air traffic, which has been at a standstill for five years.
Between 2007 and 2010, requalification works were carried out at the airport. According to Angop, the runway was increased from 1800 to 2730 meters in length and the width increased from 30 to 45 meters. However, as the runway separates the urban area from the suburban area, there are some crossing difficulties for the population.
The difficulties caused by the airport location were addressed by UNESCO: in 2017, when the historic city centre of Mbanza Kongo was inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list, UNESCO advised the construction of an airport away from the city centre.
Two years after UNESCO's recommendation, the Ministry of Transport eventually launched a call for tenders for the new airport project to go ahead.