The King Shaka International Airport is now 10 months in operation and will soon be celebrating 1 year come 1st May 2011. The airport is currently handling almost 5m passengers annually and with the current trend that has shown a 11% increase in passenger numbers in the past few months the airport is truly contributing to the economy of Durban and KZN. Even with recent decision of South Africa Airways (SAA) pulling out the Cape Town/Durban route has allowed other airline operators to take advantage of that vacuum, thus the steady passenger growth.
It has to be said that to encourage new airline operators and more direct flights to Durban is not only about building a new airport. It is a fact that aairlines make those decisions based on the manner in which a destination is marketed and the economic climate at the time. This involves various stakeholders such as ACSA, city, province, tourism, hospitality and others to make that destination a destination of choice thus making that route attractive and financially viable for an airline. ACSA will continue to work closely with the necessary stakeholders to attract more flights directly to Durban.
