South Africa
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South Africa's Newest Airport

King Shaka International Airport in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa is situated 35 km north of Durban city centre.

Durban has built a reputation as a convention hub and the airport a reputation for handling dignitaries and delegates professionally and efficiently. Its’ passenger terminals currently handle approximately 5 million passengers, but has the capacity to handle up to 7.5 million passenger annually. It has 34 aircraft parking bays and the 3.7 km long runway can accommodate the worlds’ largest aircraft, including the double-decker Airbus A380.

King Shaka International boast an environmental “world first” in the form of a bird radar system linked directly to the control tower. The huge number of birds landing to roost at dusk and leaving to forage at dawn in the nearby Mount Moreland area is a potential air strike hazard and the bird radar system strikes the balance between air safety and care for the environment by providing real-time bird movement information near its runway.

Airport Facilities

  • Public viewing deck (Domestic terminal)
  • Internet Cafés with fixed connection networks
  • Post Office (Domestic Terminal)
  • All major Banks ATM facilities
  • Shops, Pharmacies & Restaurants
  • Duty-free mall (International Terminal)
  • Tax Refunds (International Terminal)
  • Foreign Exchange dealers (International Terminal)
  • Muslim Prayer Room
  • Car rental facilities

Climate

Durban has a warm climate throughout the year with cooler evenings in the winter months and summer time rainfall.

Summer months, November to March will have average temperatures of between 19˚C and 29˚C.

Winter months, May to August will have average temperatures of between 11˚C and 21˚C.

Transport

Various forms of transportation to and from the airport would be hotel shuttles, hired cars or taxis.

The airport has specified drop-off and pick-up areas and for those traveling with their own vehicles, ample parking is provided with 4 500 parking bays, including long term parking facilities.

Travelers are advised to arrive one and a half hours before the departure of domestic flights and three hours before departure time of international flights.

Accolades

2010 saw King Shaka International winning the Airports Company of South Africa’s Award for Best Airside Service Provider as well as their annual Feather Award for Best Safety.

In the 2012 World Airport Awards, King Shaka airport was named the third best airport in Africa at the World Airport Awards.

In 2015 King Shaka International took in 2nd place as the best Airport in Africa, for their customer service as recognized by their passengers, in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards.

History

After the first democratic election in 1994, the then KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Economics and Tourism announced that an international airport would be built at La Mercy north of Durban. Final approval to the completion of the airport was given in 2002 and after many obstacles, construction finally commenced in August 2007, with operational testing on the airport in December 2009. South Africa’s newest international airport became operational on 1 May 2010 and was named after the great 19th century Zulu Warrior King.

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