Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Cape Town International Airport (ICAO: FACT, IATA: CPT) is South Africa's second-busiest airport, lying in the Matroosfontein district some 20 kilometres from the Cape Town CBD. Operated by Airports Company South Africa, it is the only airport serving scheduled passenger traffic in the Cape Town metropolitan area and offers sim pilots a long ILS-equipped main runway alongside a secondary crosswind strip.
Cape Town International Airport (ICAO: FACT, IATA: CPT) is South Africa's second-busiest airport, serving the city of Cape Town from the Matroosfontein district some 20 kilometres from the city centre. It is the only airport in the Cape Town metropolitan area offering scheduled passenger services, and is operated by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA). For the visiting sim pilot it offers a straightforward ILS approach onto a long runway pair alongside a secondary crosswind runway, at a field elevation of 144 feet.
The airport lies in the Matroosfontein district of Cape Town, roughly 20 kilometres from the Cape Town CBD and the V&A Waterfront. As South Africa's second-busiest airport it operates under full air traffic control, with dedicated delivery, ground, tower, approach and director services. No other scheduled airport lies within the immediate Cape Town metropolitan area, making FACT the primary point of arrival and departure for the region.
FACT has two physical runways. The main runway, 01/19, is a hard-surfaced strip 10,512 feet long, lit, and equipped with an ILS. The secondary runway, 16/34, is 5,578 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit, but without an instrument approach.
Pilots can expect a full suite of ATC services: Delivery on 122.1 MHz, Ground on 121.9 MHz, Tower on 118.1 MHz, Approach on 119.7 MHz, with a separate Director frequency on 124.5 MHz, and Apron Control on 122.65 MHz. ATIS is broadcast on 127 MHz, with a Long Range ATIS also available on 127.6 MHz. Runway 01/19 is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Cape Town International Airport opened in 1954, a year after Johannesburg's Jan Smuts Airport (now O.R. Tambo International), replacing the city's previous airport, Wingfield Aerodrome. It was originally known as Bellville Airport, after the nearby town, and initially served only domestic traffic before being renamed D.F. Malan Airport in honour of the then prime minister. The airport soon gained international status with the introduction of a direct flight to Britain and a second service to Britain via Johannesburg. Following the end of apartheid in the early 1990s, ownership passed from the state to the newly formed Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), and the airport was given its politically neutral present name, Cape Town International Airport. A major expansion ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup created the Central Terminal Building linking what had previously been separate terminal buildings.
Cape Town International remains South Africa's second-busiest airport and the fourth-busiest in Africa, and is the sole airport handling scheduled passenger services for the Cape Town metropolitan area. It is operated by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA). In 2025 the airport recorded an on-time performance of 90.42 percent and was ranked the Best Airport in the World by AirHelp.
