Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
K. D. Matanzima Airport, also known as Mthatha Airport, serves the city of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is best known for its single long runway, its history of South African Air Force and Defence Force involvement, and its role in Nelson Mandela's 2013 state funeral.
K. D. Matanzima Airport, also known by its current operating name of Mthatha Airport, lies just outside Mthatha (formerly Umtata) in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It was named after Kaiser Matanzima, a president of the former Transkei, and today functions as a provincially-operated airport serving the surrounding King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality. For a simulator pilot, the field offers an unusually long single runway set in the rolling hill country of the former Transkei, along with a history that touches on military operations and a nationally significant state occasion.
The airport is situated near Mthatha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, in terrain typical of the former Transkei region. No specific airspace classification, controlling FIR or details of neighbouring controlled airspace are given in the available sources.
The airport has a single physical runway, 14/32, measuring 8,494 feet in length with a hard surface. There is no ILS available on this runway.
The tower callsign is MATANZIMA TWR, operating on 121.3 MHz. No navaids or published instrument approach procedures are noted in the available sources.
No specific joining, circuit height, or noise abatement procedures are given in the available sources.
No published visual reference points or local landmarks for joining are given in the available sources.
The airport was originally named K. D. Matanzima Airport after Kaiser Matanzima, a president of the former Transkei, and it once had a grass runway designated 09/27 measuring 1,500 by 30 metres in addition to the paved 14/32 strip, which itself measured only 2,000 by 23 metres before later expansion. On 16 May 2012 the Cabinet of South Africa approved handing the airport over to the South African National Defence Force, and it was formally transferred to then Minister of Defence Lindiwe Sisulu on 21 May 2012 by then Premier of the Eastern Cape Noxolo Kiviet, with the stated purpose of supporting border security operations and regional transport infrastructure. On 7 November 2012 a South African Air Force C-47TP suffered a landing accident at the airport, damaging its wing, engine and propeller; early reports linking the aircraft to a medical crew visiting Nelson Mandela at his nearby home in Qunu were later dismissed by the SANDF. On 5 December 2012, all eleven people aboard a SAAF Dakota were killed in the Drakensberg crash while en route to Mthatha Airport. Military control of day-to-day operations was reported rescinded in July 2013, but the airport was again placed under temporary military control following Nelson Mandela's death on 5 December 2013, being converted into a no-fly zone reserved for heads of state attending his funeral in the nearby village of Qunu; other visitors were directed instead to Port Elizabeth and East London airports. On 14 December 2013, Mandela's body was flown into the airport from Air Force Base Waterkloof near Pretoria ahead of his funeral and burial. An expanded 14/32 runway, funded at a cost of R490 million, was completed in May 2013, with the first landing by an SA Airlink aircraft taking place on 30 May 2013. On 22 November 2013 President Jacob Zuma visited to inspect the runway upgrade and announced further planned works, including a new terminal building, a lit helipad, new runway approach lights, a new access road, and hangar upgrades. On 28 January 2014 the Ruwacon contracting firm was appointed to carry out further upgrades, including a new passenger terminal, a rental car facility, a refuelling station, a security fence and roadways, with the first phase expected to complete in early 2015; later phases were intended to add commercial, retail and cargo facilities.
Scheduled service historically connected the airport to Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo via SA Airlink, though flights were suspended in January 2019 owing to sub-standard rescue and firefighting response times and a lack of aerodrome emergency management systems. No current information on fuel availability, operating hours, PPR requirements, or flight simulator scenery is given in the available sources.
