Arrival of jet calls into question rationale for new Swazi airport

JAMES HALL MBABANE – A wide-bodied air cargo jet unexpectedly landed at Matsapha International Airport last week, blowing away a key rationale behind a controversial new airport under construction elsewhere. All along, government has insisted that the Matsapha facility cannot accommodate big jets. Caught off-guard by the arrival of a Ukrainian Cargo Airways jet, customs and police officials were more concerned that the plane was not a courier for illegal drugs. They found inside 40 tonnes of cigarettes, 3200 cartons filling the jet’s hull. Two years ago, FTW reported the secret departure of another large jet cargo plane, used to take baby elephants from a local game reserve. Advocates for the new airport insist that such aircraft cannot land at Matsapha, a 30 year-old facility at the edge of the Matsapha Industrial Estate. They see the need for a new R600 million airport located at the hamlet Sikhupe, about two hours from Mbabane. The Swazi senate last week approved a R44 million loan application to the Arab Bank for Development in Africa, to build a feeder highway to the airport. Promoters say one advantage of the new airport would be to allow for chartered wide-bodied passenger planes bearing tourists (due to low passenger and air cargo loads, there is no need for regularly-scheduled large aircraft flights to Swaziland), something they say is not currently possible at Matsapha. The surprise Ukrainian aircraft cigarette run seemed to call that into question.