Skukuza Airport is the only commercial

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...

, located near

Skukuza Skukuza (formerly Reserve, Sabi Bridge and Sikhukhuza), located 57 km east of Hazyview at the confluence of the N'waswitshaka and Sabie Rivers in Mpumalanga, is the administrative headquarters of the Kruger National Park. It is also the la ...

, in the

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. ...

province in

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 ...

. The airport was established in 1958 and was named in honour of

James Stevenson-Hamilton James Stevenson-Hamilton (2 October 1867 – 10 December 1957) served from 1902–1946 as the first warden of South Africa's Sabi Nature Reserve, which was expanded under his watch and became Kruger National Park in 1926. The Tsonga people ni ...

, the first warden of the Kruger national park. In 2018, the airport was dubbed "the prettiest airport in the world" by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

''.

Facilities

The airport has a small retail gift shop as well as a coffee shop and bar for visitors waiting for their flights. Three check-in counters are available, and there are couches available as well. Only daytime parking is available (no overnight).

Ground transport

Avis Car Rental Avis Car Rental is an American car rental company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. Avis, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental and Zipcar are all units of Avis Budget Group. Avis Budget Group operates the Avis brand in South Afric ...

runs the car rental facilities at both Skukuza camp and Skukuza Airport. In addition to the rental facility at the airport, they provide a shuttle service to the main Skukuza camp. Lion Sands Reserve provides free shuttles from Skukuza airport for guests to the reserve.

Runway

The airport is at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

designated 17/35 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surface measuring . The runway is sloped, putting the northwest end at elevation and the southeast end at . Landing permission is handled by the Skukuza AP management company.

Airlines and destinations

The only commercial flights to Skukuza are offered 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 ...

, with a single daily flight to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and two daily flights to

O. R. Tambo International Airport O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and since 2020, it is Africa's second ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. Private and charter flights are also available, but as Skukuza has a limit of 10 landings and 10 takeoffs per day between the hours of 09:00 and 15:00, slots are limited. Flights are also required to take specific paths in order to reduce noise in sensitive natural areas. Following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, there is only a single daily flight operated by Airlink to Johannesburg.

History

Skukuza Airport was established in 1958 and began operating in 1959. In 2001, commercial flights were discontinued due to the opening of

Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport ( af, Kruger Mpumalanga Internasionale Lughawe) is located north east of Mbombela in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Construction began in 2001 and it replaced the smaller Nelspruit Airport. It now serves ...

near

Nelspruit Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north ...

. Charter flights were still accepted at the airport if scheduled ahead of time. Commercial flights were reopened in the second half of 2013, and management of the airport was handed from

South African National Parks South African National Parks (SANParks) is the body responsible for managing South Africa's national parks. SANParks was formed in 1926, and currently manages 19 parks consisting of , over 3% of the total area of South Africa. Many parks offer ...

to a private operator, the Skukuza Airport Management Company, which is jointly owned by Lion Sands Reserve,

Federal Air Federal Air (incorporating Pelican Air Services) is an airline headquartered at O. R. Tambo International Airport near Johannesburg. South Africa.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 ...

. The airport is assigned to be able to handle a maximum of six scheduled flights a day, with a maximum of 30 per week. Up to four charter flights are allowed each day. In January 2014, construction commenced on a major renovation, and the airport reopened on 2 June 2014. The airport has also been continuously used by the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

for anti-poaching efforts.

Gallery

References

External links

Skukuza Airport

Skukuza Airport a beauty
* * {{authority control Airports in South Africa Transport in Mpumalanga Buildings and structures in Mpumalanga Kruger National Park Mbombela