MAKING history by being the only airline in Southern Africa to own an airport SA Airlink's Kruger Park Gateway Airport is, according to the new owners, likely to increase regional tourism figures by 300% when it opens by the end of the year.
Speaking at the formal launch of the airport, held yesterday at Sefapane Lodge in Phalaborwa, Northern Province, chief executive officer of SA Airlink, Rodger Foster, said the purchase of the airport from local mining company Foskor "firmly entrenched Phalaborwa as the gateway to the Kruger National Park and other tourism treasures in the area".
Handing over the keys to the airport as a symbolic gesture, Richard Veringa from Foskor said that the airport had initially been built in 1962 to serve Foskor's interests and had, to date, mainly been used for business flights, especially to the copper and phosphate mines.
"However, we had come to realise that the airport would now best be served by a company whose primary focus was tourism."
Foskor has also put the well-known Hans Merensky Golf Club - famous for being the only golf course where lion, cheetah, elephant, hippo and crocodile are sighted on the green - on the market.
Mohammed Valli Moosa, Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, unveiled the new name of the airport - previously known as the Hendrik van Eck Airport - and congratulated SA Airlink on "rising to the national challenge of tourism development ".
He praised them for what he termed a "creative and exciting venture" and said that while national tourism would grow in other areas, bush and wildlife would remain a "cornerstone of tourism for South Africa."
"To this end and with the purchase of the airport, I believe the Northern Province will be one of the biggest tourism growth areas over the next few years."
Head of project development and management at South African National Parks, Frans Laubscher, echoed these sentiments and said: "It is an honour for Kruger National Park (KNP) to be part of such an historic event."
An SA Airlink management office will be established at the airport and "millions" will be spent upgrading the airport to be "tourist friendly," indicated Foster.
The airport will be designed in the style of a "bush lodge", complete with thatched roof, watering-hole and animal statues.
With 22 destinations throughout South Africa, SA Airlink - in conjunction with its Regional Airports Company - will use the airport and the town of Phalaborwa as a hub for a large-scale marketing initiative for the central and northern parts of the KNP as well as private tourism in the Phalaborwa area.
The airline currently provides 17 (55 minute) return flights between Johannesburg and Phalaborwa on the airline's 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft.
Foster also emphasised SA Airlink's commitment to forming tourism partnerships and furthering the development of tourism products in the area.
"These aspects are critical to the growth of visitor traffic through Phalaborwa and we see ourselves as facilitators of this tourism product. We want to ensure that investment flows into Phalaborwa".
(Adele Mackenzie)
