Hosea Kutako International Airport

Hosea Kutako International Airport
IATA: WDH – ICAO: FYWH
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Namibian Civil Government
Location Windhoek, Namibia
Hub for Air Namibia
Elevation AMSL 5,640 ft / 1,719 m
Coordinates 22°29′12″S 017°27′45″E / 22.48667°S 17.46250°E / -22.48667; 17.46250Coordinates: 22°29′12″S 017°27′45″E / 22.48667°S 17.46250°E / -22.48667; 17.46250
Map
WDH

Location within Namibia

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 4,532 14,869 Asphalt
16/34 1,524 5,000 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Passengers 681,317

Hosea Kutako International Airport (IATA: WDH, ICAO: FYWH) is the main international airport serving the Namibian capital city of Windhoek. Located 45 km (28 mi) east of the city, it is Namibia's primary airport with international connections and named after Namibian hero Hosea Kutako.

History

During South African administration, the airport used to be named J.G. Strijdom Airport, after the Nationalist Prime Minister of South Africa. It was opened in 1964.

The airport handled 672,582 passengers in 2007. In 2009, it handled around 680,000 passengers, just over 4% down on the previous year when over 710,000 passengers were processed.[1]

Facilities

The airport underwent a modernising makeover in 2009. It has one terminal with one departure and one arrival hall. The main runway 08/26 is 4,532 m (14,869 ft) long, currently one of the 30 longest in the world.

The Millennium Business Park is being constructed just outside the airport, which will include a filling station, truck stop and bureau de change.

Airlines and destinations

Although Hosea Kutako International Airport is the main international airport of Namibia, few, if any, domestic flights pass through Hosea Kutako Airport as those are predominantly handled at the smaller Windhoek Eros Airport. Most international passengers to/from Namibia travel via OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg. There are around 18 direct scheduled flights daily between Hosea Kutako International Airport and OR Tambo International Airport.[2][3][4][5]

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Botswana Gaborone, Kasane, Maun
Air Namibia Cape Town, Frankfurt,[6] Gaborone, Harare, Johannesburg-OR Tambo, Luanda, Lusaka, Maun, Victoria Falls
Air Namibia Lüderitz, Oranjemund, Walvis Bay
Airlink Cape Town
British Airways
operated by Comair 		Johannesburg-OR Tambo
Condor Frankfurt[7][8]
Seasonal: Munich (begins 25 March 2016)[9]
South African Airways Johannesburg-OR Tambo
TAAG Angola Airlines Luanda

Several leading international airlines tried their best in the past to have Windhoek International Airport as one of their international destinations but unfortunately none of them managed to land in Windhoek until now for the reasons best known to Namibian Government, Namibia Airports Company and the respective airlines.[10][11][12] Further, absence of direct flights from middle east and far east makes the travel to Namibia very expensive and extremely inconvenient to local and international travelers and investors because of additional transit visa costs, visa processing time taken by respective embassies and excessive travelling time because of several flight connections required to land in Windhoek.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Namibia may see traffic boost from remake of cult TV series 'The Prisoner'; non-stop flights to Germany, but no longer UK". anna.aero Airline News & Analysis. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Real Time Flight Status at windhoek (WDH Airport)". FlightStats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Air Namibia Time Table" (PDF). Air Namibia. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Emirates Introduces Airbus to Southern Africa". All Africa News. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  5. ↑ "Ethiopian Airlines and SAA expands codeshare partnership for Windheok". An Africa Business Community – Africa Travel – Tourism. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  6. ↑ http://www.frankfurt-airport.de/content/frankfurt_airport/de/misc/container/flugplaene/flugplan-juli-oktober-2015/jcr:content.file/flugplan_2015-3_dl.pdf
  7. ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2014/02/04/de-w14update1/
  8. ↑ http://www.frankfurt-airport.de/content/frankfurt_airport/de/misc/container/flugplaene/flugplan-juli-oktober-2015/jcr:content.file/flugplan_2015-3_dl.pdf
  9. ↑ http://www.airliners.de/condor-langstreckenziele-muenchen/36063#disqus_thread
  10. ↑ "Emirates knocks on Namibia’s doors". Diplomacy Namibia. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Ethiopian Airlines flies to Windhoek". The Observer. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Direct Windhoek-Nairobi flights on cards". The Namibian. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "UAE investors want direct flights to Namibia". The Namibian. Retrieved 29 December 2014.

External links

Media related to Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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