Nomad_Africa_Edition12

Top 10
the number of airports in
Africa is growing as the continent
awakens to engage in
international travel. Air transport
has dramatically increased
on the continent
over the past ten years and
this has led to upgrade and
improvements of existing international
airports as well as the construction
of new ones. Here is a list of Africa’s top
10 international airports.
O.R. Tambo International Airport
This is a major international airport in Kempton
Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa,
near the city of Johannesburg. It serves as
the primary airport for domestic and international
travel to/from South Africa and is
Africa’s busiest airport with a capacity to
handle up to 28 million passengers annually.
It serves all continents except Antarctica (the
only other airports on earth doing likewise
are ATL, DOH, AUH, LHR, SYD, DXB and Paris
Charles de Gaulle CDG). The airport is the
hub of South Africa’s largest international
and domestic carrier, South African Airways
(SAA), and a number of smaller local airlines.
The airport handled a total of 18 million passengers
in 2014.
It was formerly officially known as Johannesburg
International Airport and before that as
Jan Smuts International Airport (hence the
airport’s former ICAO code, “FAJS”) after
South Africa’s internationally renowned
statesman by that name. The first renaming
was done in 1994 when the newly established
South African government implemented
a national policy of not naming
airports after politicians. The policy, however,
was reversed later, and the airport renamed
again on 27 October 2006 after
Oliver Tambo, a former President of the
African National Congress.
Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International Airport is the primary
airport serving the city of Cape Town,
and is the second busiest airport in South
Africa and third busiest in Africa. Located approximately
20 kilometres (12 mi) from the
city centre, the airport was opened in 1954
to replace Cape Town’s previous airport,
Wingfield Aerodrome. Cape Town International
Airport is the only airport in the Cape
Town metropolitan area that offers scheduled
passenger services. The airport has domestic
and international terminals, linked by
a common central terminal.
The airport has direct flights from South
Africa’s other two main urban areas, Johannesburg
and Durban, as well as flights to
smaller centres in South Africa. Internationally,
it has direct flights to several destinations
in Africa, Asia and Europe. The air route
between Cape Town and Johannesburg
was the world’s ninth busiest air route in 2011
with an estimated 4.5 million passengers.
King Shaka International Airport
Abbreviated KSIA, is the primary airport
serving Durban, South Africa. Located in La
Mercy, KwaZulu-Natal, approximately 35 km
(22 mi) north of the city centre of Durban, it
opened its doors to passengers on 1 May
2010, just over a month before the start of
the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It replaced Durban
International Airport (ICAO: FADN) and uses
the same IATA airport code. The airport was
designed by Osmond Lange Architects and
Planners and cost R6.8 billion (about US$900
million). On 27 January 2014, the world’s
largest passenger aircraft, an Airbus A380-
800 of British Airways landed at KSIA, becoming
the first A380 to do so. The aircraft
was being used for training, and operated
many flights in and out of the airport until 4
February 2014. The aircraft also returned for
further pilot training between August 29 and
September 1 of the same year.
Cairo International Airport
This airport is the mainstay of EgyptAir, as
well as being the busiest Egyptian Airport.
Cairo Airport is located towards the northeastern
part of the city and about 15 kilometres
from the heart of the city’s business
area.
It is administered together with other airport
facilities by EHCAAN or the Egyptian Holding
Company for Airports and Air Navigation.
Management is through contractual
arrangements, currently held by Fraport AG.
Started as a naval base, it was after World
War II that Cairo Airport started to take
shape. After the American Forces commanding
the base had left after the end of
the war, it was taken over by the Civil Aviation
Authority for global civil aviation purposes.
It was in 1963 that Cairo International
Airport earned its title after replacing Heliopolis,
the old airport, located along the
Hike-Step region in the eastern part of Cairo.
By 2009, Cairo Airport was able to serve
about 14.4 million passengers, a sizeable
percentage increase from the previous year.
It also handled about 143,000 movements of
aircrafts in the same year, also a strategic increase
from the previous year. The tonnage
of airfreight passing through the airport was
about 275,000. Amidst this statistics, Cairo
Airport still comes second in Africa in terms
of busy airport activity.
There are more than 65 airlines using the airport,
as well as nine cargo and charter airlines.
EgyptAir has the largest chunk of
operations in the airport taking up to 61 percent
of all departure slots. After EgypAir was
assimilated into the lucrative Star Alliance
carrier, Cairo Airport has been poised to become
the chief hub of major destinations
from Africa, Europe and the Middle East,
since it has A380 facilities, among other
major utilities. As the airport continues to
grow in terms of passenger and air traffic, it
is in constant development to sustain these
ever rising needs.
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International
Airport
SSR Airport is the main international airport
in Mauritius. It is located 26 nautical miles (48
km) southeast of the capital city of Port
Louis. The airport was previously known as
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