Swaziland’s new airport could cost US$1bn

SWAZILAND – Airfreight shippers into and out of Swaziland may have to wait until 2015 or perhaps 2016 to use the new Sikhupe International Airport. The facility was due to open in 2010 and is still under construction. The final price tag for the controversial project may run as high as US $1 billion. The Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA) will run the facility. SWACAA corporate affairs director Sabelo Dlamini told the local media that three air carriers had expressed interest in using Sikhupe, which is located in the eastern lowveld about 90 minutes east of Mbabane, but would not identify the airlines. “‘Normally, airline operators need about three years to prepare for such an exercise and we are nursing hopes that those we have approached will consider our proposals,” Dlamini said. He would not say if or when the airlines’ interest in the airport would solidify into commitments for using the facility. SWACAA also revealed air routes allowing flights into the new airport had not been agreed upon by SA or Mozambique. Whether or not Sikhupe ever replaces Swaziland’s lone commercial airport at the Matsapha Industrial Estate outside Manzini, road freight haulers will undoubtedly benefit. Construction plans are at an advanced stage for an eastbound highway from Manzini to service the airport, which includes a major new bypass road around that central commercial city. Beneficiaries would be the eastern lowveld sugar industry, commercial and industrial traffic from Gauteng to Maputo travelling via Swaziland, and the mining sector of Swaziland now that movement is quickening toward the opening of a long-dormant diamond mine in Dvokolwako. ‘Construction plans are at an advanced stage for an eastbound highway from Manzini to service the airport.’