 Initially built with a paved 3000 m runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2002 eruption of the volcano Nyrirangongo, 14 km to the north.The airport couldn't handle any wide-bodied aircraft except for freight operations run by relief agencies and the United Nations.A stream of fluid lava 200 m by 1000 m wide flowed onto the runway and through the city center as far as the lake shore, covering over the northern 1000 m of the runway and isolating the terminal and apron which were only connected by taxiway to the northern end.