George Airport ( af, George Lughawe) is an airport located in
George, Western Cape
George is the second largest city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is na ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
. It was formerly known as P.W. Botha Airport, named after the
state president
The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
who lived in this part of the country.
This airport was originally built in 1977 as an exact replica of the
Keetmanshoop Airport
Keetmanshoop Airport is an airport serving Keetmanshoop, a city in the ǁKaras Region of Namibia. The airport is located about northwest of the town. It has customs and immigration services and is home to the Namibia Aviation Training Academy (N ...
in
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, but since its expansion and renovation, it now looks completely different. George Airport has won the award for Africa's best airport in the category under two million passengers per year six times, the last time 2017. The award is given by Airports Council International (ACI).
In 2013, the airport served 560,432 passengers, substantially more than the 154,000 in 2003. From 2014 onwards continued increase in passenger numbers were witnessed, with 2017 recording a record number of passengers of 785,486, closing in on the design capacity of the airport which should necessitate further terminal expansion in the near future.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Traffic statistics
Accidents and incidents
* 7 December 2009 – An
Embraer ERJ 135 (''registration:ZS-SJW'') operated by
Airlink
Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline h ...
on a scheduled flight (''SA-8625'') overran the runway in wet conditions and ended up on a public road. There were no fatalities, but the plane suffered substantial damage.
The accident was caused by an incorrect sealant used on the runway, and the airline was cleared of all blame. Airlink's insurers took legal action against the state-owned
Airports Company of South Africa.
Business Day – Airlink in clear, Acsa blamed for George near-disaster
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See also
* List of airports in South Africa
This is a list of airports in South Africa, grouped by type and sorted by location.
Most of the largest airports are owned by the Airports Company of South Africa these include all the international airports except for Lanseria International ...
* List of South African airports by passenger movements
The following is a list of South African airports by passenger movements.
Statistics
All information below is sourced from the annual statistics published by the Airports Company South Africa. Figures are between 1 April and 31 March the follo ...
References
External links
*
Weather SA – George Airport webcam
{{authority control
Transport in the Western Cape
Airports in South Africa
Buildings and structures in the Western Cape
Airports of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan