Mpumalanga Airport gets the green light

Construction begins next month
CONSTRUCTION WORK on the R270million Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) will begin next month, with aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 being accommodated. The new airport will have a 2,6km runway which can be extended to 3,3km in the future if necessary.
The airport will be located 25km from Nelspruit and 15km from the Kruger National Park. It will replace the existing smaller Nelspruit airport which is to be closed to commercial traffic when construction work is completed at KMIA, scheduled for September next year.
The developers, Primkop Airport Management (PAM), were given the go-ahead after a long drawn-out Pretoria High Court case involving the Mpumalanga government, PAM and a rival bidder for an airport site at Hazyview.
An environmental management plan was approved by the department of environmental affairs in January. Because of the airportÕs proximity to the Kruger Park, stringent studies had to be undertaken to ensure that there would be no noise pollution for the park's animals. Although it has been initially planned as a tourist airport, the Mpumalanga government intends to establish full cargo handling facilities in order to meet the requirements of the rapidly developing industrial sector of the region.