King Shaka International Airport, La Mercy-Durban

King Shaka International Airport is named after the founder of the Zulu Kingdom, King Shaka! King Shaka Airport stands on ILembe District land, which is Culturally significant to the Zulu people. In 2011 the present-day Zulu king, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, chose King Shaka International Airport to be part of the Bicentenary Celebrations honouring 200 Years of the World-famous Zulu Nation. As such King Shaka International Airport you will enter into Zulu Heritage and Legacy. In 2012 King Shaka International Airport was named Africa's second best Airport, while Cape Town International was named tops!
R 6.8 Billion in total to be exact (or R 7.6 Billion, depending on who you talk to!), a figure that makes it South Africa’s second most expensive Transport infrastructure project after the Gautrain.
King Shaka International, has a bird radar system which is the first of its kind for a Commercial Airport anywhere in the World! The system is linked directly to the control tower so that the guys and girls up there will know straight away if any potentially hazardous bird movement is occurring, with the Mount Moreland Reed Bed just a couple of kilometres away, this was felt a necessary precaution. About 3 Million European Barn Swallows – that’s roughly 8 percent of the total Population – migrate to the Reed Bed every Year to roost. (They make for a phenomenal natural sight when they settle at dusk and take off in the early morning.) It’s in order to protect them and the Airport’s passengers that the radar system was installed. Apart from ensuring that the local birds are looked after, King Shaka Airport is part of an initiative which hosted a Rhino Parade on its premises in conjunction with the Wildlands Conservation Trust and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. With support from Local celebrities such as Chad le Clos, Shaun Pollock and Ray Phiri. The Airport invited students from Durban University of Technology, to create life-size Rhino Statues which they would then paint, each one according to the particular star’s, colour choices. The event was held in a bid to raise awareness for the Save the Rhino Campaign.
The Airport was the first greenfield Airport to be commissioned by Airports Company of South Africa, in 50 years. The freedom that comes from having no constraints in the planning phase meant the landscapers could develop magnificent Gardens, and the Airports Flowerbeds, are some of the most wonderful you will see anywhere in the World! When the Aloes, Strelitzias and African Irises and others; are in full bloom, they blanket the Area in beautiful African colour.