King Shaka International Airport
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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected new airport. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the construction and/or completion of the airport approaches, and as more information becomes available on it. |
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| King Shaka International Airport (Under Construction) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: ? - ICAO: ? | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Serves | Durban, South Africa | ||
| Elevation AMSL | ft ( m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 6/24[1] | 12,139 | 3,700 | Asphalt |
King Shaka International Airport is an airport currently under construction at La Mercy, 30 kilometres north of Durban, South Africa. It will replace the existing Durban International Airport (DIA), which will be decommissioned. It is expected to be operational in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The airport will cost R6.8 billion.[2]
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[edit] Characteristics
The airport will feature a single runway, 3700 m long (with the capacity to extend it to 4000 m). This is significantly longer than the 2400 m runway at DIA, and will enable the airport to handle large aircraft such as the Airbus A380. (Durban's existing international airport is the smallest of South Africa's four international airports. The runway is too short to allow a fully-laden Boeing 747 to take off.) The new airport terminal will feature jetways (see renders in the External Links section, below), something the current terminal lacks.
Significant commercial and industrial developments are planned in the vicinity of the airport; these developments, together with the airport, will form the Dube Tradeport.
Once the King Shaka Airport is complete, the existing DIA will be decommissioned. The site, in a prime industrial area south of the city, will be redeveloped, possibly as a dug-out port serving nearby automotive assembly and components factories.[3]
Post-2010, a second expansion phase is scheduled to start, with completion expected around 2012. Future expansion plans have also been proposed for completion around 2035 and 2060, by which time dual runways will operate on either side of the main terminal buildings.[4]
The South African civil aviation authority has announced that Durban will serve as the gateway for any additional flights to/from the Far East or Australasia during the 2010 World Cup.[5]
[edit] History and construction
Earthworks for King Shaka International Airport at La Mercy commenced in the early 1970s before the project was halted. The project was revived in 1994, but disputes between the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and the Dube Tradeport firm (which is backed by the KwaZulu-Natal provinical government) stalled the project until national transport minister Jeff Radebe intervened to jumpstart the project in 2004.[6]
Although originally expected to open in late 2009, the airport is expected to be completed by April 2010.[7] There was a delay while the parties were waiting for the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) to approve the project's Evironmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The EIA had to be approved before construction began. It was hoped that if EIA approval was granted by early July 2007, that construction would be complete by March 2010.[8] EIA approval was granted on 23 August 2007, paving the way for construction to begin. Certain conditions are attached including the appointment of an environmental control officer, issues of access from the nearby N2 freeway, and fauna and flora issues; in particular, the impact of construction and airport operations on a nearby colony of barn swallows.[9]
[edit] Access
The airport is located in close proximity to the main N2 freeway, and two main roads (the R102 and M4), as well as the main railway line heading north from Durban along the North Coast. A road link between the airport and the N2 will be constructed.
[edit] References
- ^ Proposed Master Plan of Dube Tradeport. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ IOL: New Durban airport waiting for green light
- ^ Business Day - News Worth Knowing
- ^ Proposed Master Plan of the Dube Tradeport
- ^ SATSA - News - National Parliament Portfolio Committee on Transport: Airlift strategy to the Broader 2010 Context | Minutes of Briefings by: Department of Transport; SATSA & TBCSA
- ^ Business Report - Decisive Radebe ends impasse over R1.6bn Dube Tradeport
- ^ IOL: Early finish for La Mercy airport
- ^ IOL: New Durban airport waiting for green light
- ^ "King Shaka airport gets a nod". Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
