As part of this study a research into the state of various air service facilities in the province was made to establish active freight service centres and acquire their operating volumes. The state of their infrastructure and their operations were also investigated to determine possible future interventions. Twenty three air service facilities were identified as shown in Figure 2 below but it was found that of the twenty three air service facilities two (Sace and Amsterdam airfields) have been closed because they were considered unsuitable for service.

Contact with the various owners of the air service facilities was made to establish their current air freight service operations or activities and projected future operations. Both public and private facilities were considered because they form an integral part of the system.

These airports will be discussed in detail in this document as they form the core of Mpumalanga’s air freight service centres.

Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is the official port of entry for Mpumalanga Province; it began operations in October of 2002 as a builder operator. The airport is situated within reasonable driving distance from both Nelspruit and White River and in close proximity of many scenic, heritage and conservation sites.

KMIA is an ICAO approved facility with a runway able to support such aircraft as Boeing 747 and AIRBUS series aircraft. Major domestic destination include Johannesburg, Cape Town, and King Shaka (Durban) handling 32 scheduled and an average of 21 unscheduled movements daily. Flights to Vilankulu in Mozambique are also available. Approximately 22000 people use the facility every month. The following airliners operate from the facility:

• Airlink Airlines

• British Airways (Comair Limited).

Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is currently the only institute were air freight data was made available. There are several airfields within the province were there is possibly air freight movement but since they are private, the information is kept confidential.

Important airfield information is presented below.

• Nearest Town: Nelspruit
  
• Location: S025 23' 29.7"; E031 05' 57.4"
  
• Classification: Class A, ICAO: FAKN
  
• Contact Details: 013 753 7570/7500
  
• Runway Details: RWY 05/23 2600x45m Asphalt
  
• Main Activity: International & Domestic Flights
  
• Freight Activity: Active and collected
  

Total aircraft movements at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport for the period 2006 - 2009 are presented in Figure 5. Aircraft movements at Kruger Mpumalanga have been increasing till 2007 and then started to decrease into 2008 and 2009, which could be related to the financial crisis that affected the entire world. It is generally accepted that most of the passengers at this airport are tourists.

Figure 5: Total aircraft movements at Kruger Mpumalanga

Fees structure at KMIA is presented below, these charges were sourced from [www.mceglobal.net] as presented and were effective from the 01 April 2010. The fees are subject to change by the airport management and thus cannot be guaranteed.