A plan to expand the international terminal at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport is in the pipeline.

Bongani Maskeo, CEO of Airports Company South Africa, told Tourism Update the company was in the planning stages of expanding King Shaka with a focus on increasing the capacity of the international terminal. Maskeo said the reason for the expansion is that the airport had seen a 21% increase in international traffic in the past year. Furthermore, he said King Shaka is a diversion airport and supports flights to OR Tambo International Airport, and therefore warrants the investment.

A number of airlines – with Ethiopian Airlines and Air Seychelles being the most recent – recently pulled the plug on their Durban route. What’s more, King Shaka’s total overseas arrivals in June accounted for only 3% of all airport arrivals in SA.

King Shaka received 2 952 overseas arrivals, compared with 28 396 at Cape Town International and 104 811 at OR Tambo International Airport.

Despite this, Maskeo said he expects to continue to see steady growth in international traffic at King Shaka, maintaining that a number of international airlines have “shown an interest” in launching flights to Durban.

June Crawford, CEO of Barsa, however, said she was unaware of any firm commitments by new airline entrants to the Durban market.

Crawford admits that King Shaka was not designed for international traffic, which had grown significantly in the past year. However, she added, because airlines have also withdrawn services from the airport, the sustainability of airport operations is a major consideration when assessing whether or not major investment should be made at the airport in the next five years.