INTERNATIONAL tourists will soon land at Hoedspruit Airport in Limpopo.
This comes after the Transport and Community Safety MEC Florence Radzilani and Maruleng Municipality Mayor Tsheko Musolwa agreed to pursue an international licence for the airport.
The two met on Tuesday, 7 November, to chart a way forward regarding a decision by the Limpopo provincial government executive committee to have the Hoedspruit Airport be accorded an international licence.
The decision was informed by the number of passengers using the airport annually.
MEC Radzilani said before the Covid-19 disruptions, the airport saw more than 71 000 passengers through its facilities, with over 75% of these being international tourists from Central Europe and the Scandinavian countries.
“The majority of them land in Cape Town, Western Cape and proceed to the Hoedspruit Airport, which is the gateway to the Kruger Trans frontier park and many other attraction sites in the eastern part of the country,” she said.
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She said as part of repositioning the provincial economy, the Limpopo provincial government resolved to convert the Hoedspruit Aerodrome Licence into an International Operating Licence a few years ago.
“The international licence will be an added advantage to both the tourism and agricultural sectors, which are the mainstay of the Maruleng and the provincial economy,” said Radzilani.
A joint technical committee composed of officials from the Maruleng Local Municipality, the Department of Transport and Community Safety, and its entity, Gateway Airport Authority Limited (GAAL), is working on modalities to acquire an international licence for the airport.
The committee will engage with the National Department of Transport and the South African National Defence Force to chart a way forward under this objective.
“Upon its logical conclusion, the airport will create an unrestricted market of international travellers into the province,” said Radzilani.
