Durban International Airport Durban Internasionale Lughawe | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | South African Air Force | ||||||||||
| Serves | Durban, South Africa | ||||||||||
| Location | Isipingo,Prospecton | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1951 (1951) | ||||||||||
| Passenger services ceased | 30 April 2010 (2010-04-30) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 29 ft / 9 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 29°58′07″S030°56′52″E / 29.96861°S 30.94778°E /-29.96861; 30.94778 | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  FADN Location in the Durban metropolitan area | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (1951-2010) | |||||||||||
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| Source:List of the busiest airports in Africa, Co-located withAFB Durban | |||||||||||
Durban International Airport (formerlyLouis Botha Airport) was the international airport ofDurban from 1951 until 2010, when it was replaced byKing Shaka International Airport, 60 kilometres (37 mi) to the north. The airport is co-located withAFB Durban.
The airport was opened in 1951, replacing theStamford Hill Aerodrome.[1] The original name of the airport wasLouis Botha International, named after the South African statesman. The airport maintained this name until 1994 when the political changes that came with that year in South Africa resulted in a change of name to Durban International Airport. While the airport served the domestic market well, the airport suffered from low international passenger numbers and a runway that was too short for a fully ladenBoeing 747 to take off.[2] Due to the short runway and the hub and spoke policy that was adopted in the 1990s (favouringOR Tambo International Airport inJohannesburg), Durban lost almost all of its international traffic.
Plans to move the airport toLa Mercy, approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Durban International Airport, were proposed and shelved numerous times between the 1970s and 2007,[3] before construction of what was to becomeKing Shaka International Airport began in September 2007.[4] Construction of the new airport was completed in 2010, with Durban International Airport handling its final flight on 30 April 2010 and all flights transferring to King Shaka International Airport in a single, overnight move.[5]
The airport was used by theSouth African Air Force and thePolice Air Wing during the2010 FIFA World Cup, before being decommissioned.[5]
Although it is currently unclear as to what the future usage of the airport site will be, it is widely expected that the site will be used for future industrial development. The site is located on a large parcel of flat land in theDurban South Industrial Basin, which is already home to much of the city's heavy industry; given Durban's generally very hilly terrain, such a large, flat parcel is ideal for future industrial development, port expansion, or both.[12][13] Ownership of the airport was transferred from theAirports Company South Africa toTransnet in 2012, for the construction of a dig-out port.[14] In 2017, it was reported that plans for the dig-out port[15] had been placed on hold until "at least 2030".[16]
No provision was made during the planning and construction of KSIA to accommodate theSouth African Air Force base at DIA, thusAFB Durban,15 Squadron and related support units are still operating from this airport.
