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Matsapha Airport lies near Manzini in west-central Eswatini and was for decades the kingdom's principal gateway before commercial traffic was transferred to King Mswati III International Airport at Sikhuphe in 2014. It now serves royal, government and mercy flights, and for a simulator pilot it offers a long hard-surfaced runway with ILS in a relatively quiet corner of southern African airspace.
Matsapha Airport sits just outside Manzini, one of Eswatini's principal cities, and is operated by the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority (ESWACAA). Once the country's busy international airport handling around 70,000 passengers a year, it now serves royal movements, government flights and mercy flights, making it a quieter but still active destination for a visiting pilot, with a single long runway and full ILS equipment on offer.
The airfield is located near Manzini in the centre-west of Eswatini. Commercial international traffic was transferred in 2014 to King Mswati III International Airport, situated around 50 kilometres away at Sikhuphe, which is now the country's main civil gateway; Matsapha continues to operate alongside it for royal, government and mercy flights.
Matsapha has a single physical runway, 07/25, of 8,528 feet with a hard surface and runway lighting. Runway 07 is equipped with an ILS, giving an instrument approach option for arrivals from that direction.
Approach can be contacted on 124.9 MHz, with the tower also operating on 124.9 MHz and ground movements handled on 121.7 MHz. An ILS is available on runway 07 for instrument approaches.
Matsapha Airport served for many years as Eswatini's principal airport, with all its scheduled commercial flights operating to O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Plans to replace it were announced by King Mswati in 2000, and the new King Mswati III International Airport at Sikhuphe was inaugurated in March 2014. The airline Airlink initially continued to fly into Matsapha after the new airport opened, but the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority required it to cease operations there on 29 September 2014 and switch to King Mswati III Airport the following day. Matsapha was retained thereafter for use by the royal family and the army.
Matsapha Airport ceased handling international scheduled traffic from 30 September 2014 and today services royal movements and mercy flights under the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority. It has been reported as operating between 8AM and 5PM local time, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
