Durban — The reopening of Richards Bay airport has been hailed as a tourism booster for the North Coast town in KwaZulu-Natal.
The airport, which had been closed for almost two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, was reopened on Monday for daily flights.
Welcoming the first flight after two years of airport closure, uMhlathuze mayor Xolani Ngwezi described the reopening as a milestone.
“It is an absolute pleasure and gives a sense of joy to celebrate the reopening of the airport, which has been dysfunctional for close to two years now.”
He said the reinstatement of daily flights followed the securing of necessary resources to accommodate scheduled airline services.
“The commencement of flights in Richards Bay will be of positive value when it comes to growing business in the city.
“We have been working endlessly to refurbish the recently renovated airport. We can now warmly welcome all travellers, including business and leisure ones.
“This will have a positive impact also in the growth of our tourism industry, as well as in making business much better and easier as it will be much easier and convenient to connect to different provinces in a short space of time,” said the mayor.
He added that getting back the correct licence for commercial flights had been a rigorous process, “which was foreign to many of us, it was a tedious and lengthy process of continuous auditing and compliance checks by the Civil Aviation Authority”.
Furthermore, the mayor said the role played by Acsa (Airport Company of South Africa) proved that the organs of state were interdependent and interrelated in many ways.
He added that Acsa supported them and pledged to continue to do so until the airport met not just the minimum standards, but would assist in ensuring it thrived and was viable as economic infrastructure.
“It has been a privilege to have welcomed a first flight which has landed in this airport with happy passengers who also appeared very excited about this development.
“I take it we all know that Richards Bay is vital to the economy of KwaZulu-Natal and the entire country.
“As such, an efficient transportation system comes in high demand. We strongly believe the resumption of the function of this airport will help a lot to reignite growth and economic activities in the City of uMhlathuze,” said the mayor.
He also announced that Airlink had quickly capitalised on these opportunities and was the first and only airline to jump in with two daily flights, servicing the Johannesburg-Richards Bay route.
He added that he was excited the airline had expanded its reach to include a flight from Bloemfontein to Richards Bay via Johannesburg.
Daily News