King Phalo Airport (IATA: ELS, ICAO: FAEL) (Afrikaans: Koning Phalo Internasionale Lughawe; formerly East London Airport (Afrikaans: Oos-Londen Lughawe) until 23 February 2021)[4] is an airport serving East London, a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa.
The airport handles between 20 and 30 flights daily, which bring 946,000 people to East London each year. Of these, about 540,000 are holidaymakers, mostly local, and about 15% are foreign tourists. In 2013, the airport served 658,363 passengers. In 2016, King Phalo Airport was voted the fastest growing airport in South Africa, having accomplished an almost 19% increase in traffic over a 12-month-period.[5] The airport welcomed over 806,000 passengers in 2016, beating the 679,000 that passed through East London in 2015. The second best performing airport for growth in 2014 was Kimberley, with its traffic growing by 11%. Overall the top airports of South Africa witnessed nearly 39.7 million passengers in 2016, up 5.3% on the year before.
The airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927, when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook, west of the city.
Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting. Flights could also be booked for weekdays, but only by special arrangement. In 1931 it took 11 hours to fly from Windhoek in Namibia to King Phalo Airport.
In 1944 a new airport was built at Collondale, about 2 km west of the present terminal building.
In 1965 the airport was again moved, this time to its present site, 9 km west of the city centre. Construction of the terminal buildings finished in 1966, and the airport was named after Ben Schoeman, the minister of transport at the time.
The airport was renamed in 1994. Since then, major alterations to the terminal building have been completed and a new first-floor office development for the airport management team has been added.
Infrastructureedit
Runwaysedit
King Phalo Airport has two asphaltrunways: 11/29 is 1,939 by 46 meters and 06/24 is 1,585 by 46 meters.
Number
Length
Width
ILS
Notes
11/29
1,939
46m
06/24
1,585
46m
Terminalsedit
Facilitiesedit
King Phalo Airport is at an elevation of 435 feet (133 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 11/29 is 1,939 by 46 metres (6,362 ft × 151 ft) and 06/24 is 1,585 by 46 metres (5,200 ft × 151 ft).[1]
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King Phalo Airport IATA ELS ICAO FAEL Afrikaans Koning Phalo Internasionale Lughawe formerly East London Airport Afrikaans Oos Londen Lughawe until 23 February 2021 4 is an airport serving East London a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa King Phalo AirportIATA ELSICAO FAELSummaryAirport typePublicOperatorAirports Company South AfricaServesEast London South AfricaElevation AMSL436 ft 133 mCoordinates33 02 06 S 027 49 17 E 33 03500 S 27 82139 E 33 03500 27 82139Websitewww wbr airports wbr co wbr za wbr airports wbr King Phalo airportMapFAELLocation of airport in Eastern Cape provinceLocation of Eastern Cape in South AfricaShow map of Eastern CapeFAELFAEL South Africa Show map of South AfricaFAELFAEL Africa Show map of AfricaRunwaysDirection Length Surface m ft 11 29 1 939 6 362 Asphalt 06 24 1 585 5 200 AsphaltStatistics Jan Dec 2019 Passenger traffic930 929Sources South African AIP 1 DAFIF 2 3 The airport handles between 20 and 30 flights daily which bring 946 000 people to East London each year Of these about 540 000 are holidaymakers mostly local and about 15 are foreign tourists In 2013 the airport served 658 363 passengers In 2016 King Phalo Airport was voted the fastest growing airport in South Africa having accomplished an almost 19 increase in traffic over a 12 month period 5 The airport welcomed over 806 000 passengers in 2016 beating the 679 000 that passed through East London in 2015 The second best performing airport for growth in 2014 was Kimberley with its traffic growing by 11 Overall the top airports of South Africa witnessed nearly 39 7 million passengers in 2016 up 5 3 on the year before Contents 1 History 2 Infrastructure 2 1 Runways 3 Terminals 4 Facilities 5 Airlines and destinations 5 1 Passenger 5 2 Cargo 6 Traffic statistics 7 Incidents 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksHistory editThe airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927 when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook west of the city Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays weather permitting Flights could also be booked for weekdays but only by special arrangement In 1931 it took 11 hours to fly from Windhoek in Namibia to King Phalo Airport In 1944 a new airport was built at Collondale about 2 km west of the present terminal building In 1965 the airport was again moved this time to its present site 9 km west of the city centre Construction of the terminal buildings finished in 1966 and the airport was named after Ben Schoeman the minister of transport at the time The airport was renamed in 1994 Since then major alterations to the terminal building have been completed and a new first floor office development for the airport management team has been added Infrastructure editRunways edit King Phalo Airport has two asphalt runways 11 29 is 1 939 by 46 meters and 06 24 is 1 585 by 46 meters Number Length Width ILS Notes 11 29 1 939 46m 06 24 1 585 46mTerminals editFacilities editKing Phalo Airport is at an elevation of 435 feet 133 m above mean sea level It has two asphalt paved runways 11 29 is 1 939 by 46 metres 6 362 ft 151 ft and 06 24 is 1 585 by 46 metres 5 200 ft 151 ft 1 Airlines and destinations editPassenger edit AirlinesDestinationsAirlinkJohannesburg O R TamboCemAirCape Town Johannesburg O R Tambo begins 8 April 2024 6 FlySafairCape Town Durban 7 Johannesburg O R Tambo Cargo edit AirlinesDestinationsBidAir Cargo 8 Johannesburg O R TamboTraffic statistics editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki org Annual passenger traffic at ELS airport See Wikidata query Annual passenger traffic 9 Year Passengers Change 2006 664 824 nbsp 19 2 2007 744 949 nbsp 12 1 2008 715 206 nbsp 4 0 2009 675 980 nbsp 5 5 2010 671 895 nbsp 0 6 2011 681 741 nbsp 1 5 2012 663 115 nbsp 2 7 2013 658 363 nbsp 0 7 2014 642 085 nbsp 2 5 2015 678 989 nbsp 5 7 2016 806 437 nbsp 18 8 2017 804 741 nbsp 0 2 Incidents editOn 13 March 1967 South African Airways Flight 406 crashed into the Indian Ocean while on approach to King Phalo Airport All 25 passengers and crew on board were killed See also editList of airports in South Africa List of South African airports by passenger movementsReferences edit a b FAEL EAST LONDON PDF South African Civil Aviation Authority 4 April 2013 Archived from the original PDF on 1 July 2018 Airport information for FAEL usurped from DAFIF effective October 2006 Airport information for ELS at Great Circle Mapper Source DAFIF effective October 2006 Two SA airports and Port Elizabeth just got official new names BusinessInsider Retrieved 24 February 2021 East London is fastest growing airport in South Africa in 2016 anna aero 30 January 2017 Retrieved 24 August 2018 Cemair to introduce flights between Johannesburg and East London SA People Retrieved 12 February 2024 FlySafair FlySafair Launches New Routes Archived from the original on 5 June 2017 Retrieved 28 December 2018 bidaircargo com Network Archived 1 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 13 January 2021 ACSA Passenger Statistics Airports Company South Africa Archived from the original on 29 October 2013 Retrieved 23 October 2021 External links editEast London Airport official site Aeronautical chart and airport information for FAEL at SkyVector Current weather for FAEL at NOAA NWS Accident history for ELS at Aviation Safety Network Portals nbsp South Africa nbsp Aviation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title King Phalo Airport amp oldid 1213450168, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
