Swaziland pushes ahead with ill-advised 'bush airport'

Swaziland’s authorities are determined to continue with the costly and seemingly unending construction of an international airport in the country’s eastern lowveld. In his budget speech last week, Finance Minister Majozi Sithole allocated an additional R220 million for the airport located in the hamlet Sikhupe. About R9 billion has been estimated as the construction cost for the modest-sized facility. The International Monetary Fund has advised against the project since its inception. The IMF has urged government to invest in infrastructure upgrades truly needed to serve the transportation and business sectors. No cost benefit analysis was conducted before the airport project was undertaken. No airlines have committed themselves to flying there. The one airline that serves the country, Swaziland Airlink, has objected to having to move from Swaziland’s current and under-utilised airport at the centrally located Matsapha Industrial Estate. The airline has told government the move to the ‘bush airport’ would put the carrier out of business. Driving from Mbabane to Johannesburg would be the same as driving to the Sikhupe airport to fly to Johannesburg, and would be shorter if there were flight delays.