Kulula.com is to restart its operations at Johannesburg’s Lanseria International Airport on April 1, servicing Durban and Cape Town routes.

The airline will commence with a limited schedule, adding frequencies over the next couple of months. It is still unknown how many frequencies it will fly to each destination.

“With faster check-in processes, as well as a shorter walk from the car park to the terminal, it’s an obvious choice for visitors that frequently fly into Gauteng,” said Executive Head of Revenue Management, Desmond O’Connor.

"We are upbeat and extremely excited about the reopening of our services at Lanseria as part of our ramp-up strategy,” said O’Connor.

Lanseria is a popular choice of airport for residents of Pretoria and the northern and western suburbs of Johannesburg.

Tourism Update’s sister publication, Travel News, reported in November last year that the airport had been in the midst of a large expansion before lockdown, intending to increase its capacity from three million to four and a half million passengers annually. The work had initially been intended to be completed by the end of May, but construction had resumed in September.

A residential and commercial development in the area, Lanseria Smart City, is expected to be completed around 2030, and aims to accommodate up to half a million residents. Integrated public transport systems connecting residential zones and industrial hubs are planned.

A Gautrain line to Lanseria was included in plans submitted to Treasury in 2017 but those plans have been put on ice. According to Business Insider, demand for Gautrain services has fallen dramatically – down 70% in December and 80% in January – after SA’s new hard lockdown began to bite.