CLAIM: Did you know? Hwange National Park Airport in Zimbabwe boasts the 4th longest runway in Africa, trailing only South Africa’s and Harare International Airport’s runways.
SOURCE: X Account, Henry Hakula – @henryhakula
VERDICT: Partly true
On April 1, 2025, X (formerly Twitter) account holder Henry Hakula, using the handle @henryhakula, posted a message claiming that Hwange National Park Airport has the fourth-longest runway in Africa. He further said that ahead of the same airport are only South Africa’s and Harare airports runways.
‘Did you know? Hwange National Park Airport in Zimbabwe boasts the 4th longest runway in Africa, trailing only South Africa’s and Harare International Airport’s runways,’ reads the message posted on X.
‘It’s ranked 12th in the world! The airport features a single runway, designated 08/26, which is 4,600 meters long. It serves as the gateway to Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s largest national park, renowned for its stunning wildlife.’
According to the Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ), located 80 km away from Hwange town and 180 km from Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park Airport, with a runway measuring 4,600 metres long and 30 metres wide, has a capacity to handle a Boeing 737-200 aircraft or equivalent. On the other hand, slashgear.com, in its list of 10 of the longest airport runways in the world in no order of length includes the following African airports: Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Zimbabwe – 15,502 feet, Upington Airport, South Africa – 16,076 feet, Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, Namibia – 14,869 feet and N’djili Airport, Democratic Republic of the Congo – 15,420 feet.
Air Insight Group, which provides commercial aviation news and analysis, includes Hwange National Park Airport in its list of Top 10 Longest Runways in the World. Placed on position 10, together with Russia’s Zhukovsky International Airport, Hwange National Park Airport has a runway measuring 4,600 metres.
In the first position are Russia’s Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport and China’s Shigatse Peace Airport, with runways measuring 5,000 metres, followed by Brazil’s Embraer Unidade Gavião Peixoto Airport (4,967 m), South Africa’s Upington Airport (4,900 m ), United States’ Denver International Airport (4,877m), Qatar’s Hamad International Airport (4,850 m ), Spain’s Madrid-Torrejón Airport (4,818 m ), Iraq’s Erbil International Airport (4,800 m), Zimbabwe’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (4,725 m) and Democratic Republic of Congo’s N’djili Airport (4,700 m) on ninth position.
Interestingly, Samchui.com also places Hwange National Park Airport alongside Russia’s Zhukovsky International Airport on the 10th position in a similar list of the top 10 longest runways in the world.
Accordingly, therefore, in Africa, the airport that has the longest runway is Upington Airport in South Africa, followed by Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, N’djili Airport in DRC and then Hwange National Park Airport. While Hwange National Airport indeed boasts the fourth longest runway in Africa, as claimed by the X account, it does not trail only South Africa and Zimbabwe’s airport’s runways. DRC’s N’djili Airport, with a runway measuring 4,700 m, also comes ahead of Hwange National Park Airport (4,600).
The importance of airport runways
· The length of an airport’s runway can significantly affect flight operations.
· Airports worldwide have varying runway lengths, allowing them to safely accommodate a certain number of aircraft types.
· The design and condition of an airport runway factor into the calculations airlines and their pilots will take to ensure the aircraft arrives or departs safely.
· Correcting the runway length is crucial for an airport, as it will outline its ability to accept various-sized aircraft.
Conclusion
The claim: ‘Did you know? Hwange National Park Airport in Zimbabwe boasts the 4th longest runway in Africa, trailing only South Africa’s and Harare International Airport’s runway’, is partly true in that while Hwange National Park Airport is the fourth longest runway in Africa, as claimed by the X account, it does not trail only South Africa and Zimbabwe’s airport’s runways but DRC’s N’djili Airport as well. The correct position, therefore, is that Hwange National Park Airport has the fourth longest runway in Africa after South Africa’s Upington Airport, Zimbabwe’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and DRC’s N’djili Airport.
