King Phalo Airport

King Phalo Airport
Koning Phalo Lughawe
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorAirports Company South Africa
ServesEast London, South Africa
Opened1944 (1944)
Elevation AMSL436 ft (133 m)
Coordinates33°02′06″S 027°49′17″E / 33.03500°S 27.82139°E / -33.03500; 27.82139
Websitewww.airports.co.za/airports/King-Phalo-airport
Maps
ELS is located in Eastern Cape
ELS
ELS
Location in the Eastern Cape
ELS is located in South Africa
ELS
ELS
ELS (South Africa)
ELS is located in Africa
ELS
ELS
ELS (Africa)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11/29 1,939 6,362 Asphalt
06/24 1,585 5,200 Asphalt
Statistics (FY 2025–26)
Passenger traffic911,738
Aircraft movements12,778
Sources: ACSA,[1][2] South African AIP,[3] DAFIF[4][5]

King Phalo Airport (IATA: ELS, ICAO: FAEL) (Afrikaans: Koning Phalo Lughawe; formerly East London Airport (Afrikaans: Oos-Londen Lughawe) until 23 February 2021)[6] is an airport serving East London, a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa.

The airport handles between 20 and 30 flights daily. In 2016, King Phalo Airport was voted the fastest growing airport in South Africa, having accomplished an almost 19% increase in traffic over a 12-month-period.[7]

History

The airport had an inauspicious beginning in 1927, when Lieut Colonel Alistair Miller asked the East London town council to help establish a municipal aerodrome at Woodbrook, west of the city.

Passenger flights were undertaken by two de Havilland Moth planes on Saturday afternoons and all day on Sundays, weather permitting. Flights could also be booked for weekdays, but only by special arrangement. In 1931, it took 11 hours to fly from Windhoek in Namibia to King Phalo Airport.

In 1944 a new airport was built at Collondale, about 2 km west of the present terminal building.

In 1965 the airport was again moved, this time to its present site - 9 km west of the city centre. Construction of the terminal buildings finished in 1966, and the airport was named after Ben Schoeman - the minister of transport at the time.

The airport was renamed in 1994 to East London Airport. Since then, major alterations to the terminal building have been completed and a new first-floor office development for the airport management team has been added. On 23 February 2021, the airport was renamed to King Phalo Airport.[6]

In 2024, there were frequent disruptions to this and other regional airports caused by failings at Air Traffic Navigation Services (ATNS).

Infrastructure

Runways

King Phalo Airport has two asphalt runways: 11/29 is 1,939 by 46 meters and 06/24 is 1,585 by 46 meters.

Facilities

King Phalo Airport is at an elevation of 435 feet (133 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 11/29 is 1,939 by 46 metres (6,362 ft × 151 ft) and 06/24 is 1,585 by 46 metres (5,200 ft × 151 ft).[3]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Airlink Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo
CemAir Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo,[8] Cape Town[9]
FlySafair Cape Town, Durban,[10] Johannesburg–Lanseria,[11] Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo
King Phalo Airport (South Africa)
Destinations from ELS.

Cargo

AirlinesDestinations
BidAir Cargo[12] Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo

Traffic statistics

Annual passenger and aircraft statistics
Fiscal year
(Apr–Mar)		 Aircraft movementsPassenger traffic
2007–08
no data
741,290
2008–09
no data
699,070(Decrease5.7%)
2009–10
35,765
676,982(Decrease3.2%)
2010–11
38,777(Increase8.4%)
677,370(Increase0.1%)
2011–12
32,587(Decrease16.0%)
681,529(Increase0.6%)
2012–13
30,501(Decrease6.4%)
644,520(Decrease5.4%)
2013–14
31,165(Increase2.2%)
664,684(Increase3.1%)
2014–15
31,798(Increase2.0%)
638,012(Decrease4.0%)
2015–16
30,007(Decrease5.6%)
726,049(Increase13.8%)
2016–17
30,043(Increase0.1%)
793,832(Increase9.3%)
2017–18
27,046(Decrease10.0%)
816,154(Increase2.8%)
2018–19
24,892(Decrease8.0%)
840,225(Increase2.9%)
2019–20
26,453(Increase6.3%)
916,192(Increase9.0%)
2020–21
9,276(Decrease64.9%)
315,792(Decrease65.5%)
2021–22
18,616(Increase100.7%)
643,437(Increase103.8%)
2022–23
17,696(Decrease4.9%)
714,598(Increase11.1%)
2023–24
17,030(Decrease3.8%)
832,251(Increase16.5%)
2024–25
13,785(Decrease19.1%)
830,442(Decrease0.2%)
2025–26
12,778(Decrease7.3%)
911,738(Increase9.8%)

Source: ACSA[13][14][1][2]

Incidents

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "ACSA Passenger Statistics" (PDF). Airports Company South Africa.
  2. 1 2 "ACSA Aircraft Statistics" (PDF). Airports Company South Africa.
  3. 1 2 "FAEL – EAST LONDON" (PDF). South African Civil Aviation Authority. 4 April 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Airport information for FAEL[link removed] from DAFIF (effective October 2006)
  5. ↑ "Airport information for ELS". DAFIF. October 2006 – via Great Circle Mapper.
  6. 1 2 "Two SA airports – and Port Elizabeth – just got official new names". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "East London is fastest growing airport in South Africa in 2016". anna.aero. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Cemair to introduce flights between Johannesburg and East London". SA People. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "CemAir to launch new route". TravelNews. Now Media. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  10. ↑ "FlySafair | FlySafair Launches New Routes". Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "Safair Expands Johannesburg Lanseria Network in Nov 2025". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  12. ↑ bidaircargo.com - Network Archived 1 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 13 January 2021
  13. ↑ "ACSA Passenger Statistics". Airports Company South Africa. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "ACSA aircraft movements" (PDF). Airports Company South Africa.
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