Airlink will make a historic introduction of flights between Port Elizabeth and Mthatha Airports on Fridays as from 26 February 2010.
This was announced today by the Eastern Cape MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Ms Ghishma Barry, at the Emerging Contractors awards ceremony held at the Latimer’s Landing in East London to honour, amongst others, 15 young people who participated in the R6,2 million construction of the Mthatha Airport prefabricated temporary terminal building, which was completed this week by three Mthatha based local emerging contractors under the guidance of Group Five.
The introduction of this flight will follow the re-introduction of the service between East London and Port Elizabeth on 22 February 2010, which was announced this week by Airlink.
“This is good news to us as this historic introduction of flights between Port Elizabeth and Mthatha marks the realisation of our vision, which is clearly articulated in our Blue Skyway aviation strategy. In the interim, people will be served at the new temporary building adjacent to the terminal building, which will soon be upgraded as part of the Mthatha Airport Upgrade project phase one,” said MEC Barry.
“This means that three of our airports (East London, Mthatha and Port Elizabeth) are now ready to contribute to the provincial growth and development plan. The remaining challenge is to make sure that all four airports in the province complement each other as there is no significant international aviation node in the province. East London, Mthatha and Port Elizabeth regional airports are currently unable to accommodate big aircraft like the Boeing 747 and Bhisho airport is the only one capable to do so,” she added.
The Eastern Cape Department of Transport further intends to have an airline between Cape Town and Mthatha via Bhisho. An important goal is to link Port Elizabeth to Mthatha via Bhisho with the service geared for faster movement between these three areas, especially with the 2010 FIFA World Cup around the corner.
Media contact:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Cell: 082 442 2388
Issued by: Department of Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
12 February 2010
Source: Department of Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
(http://www.ectransport.gov.za/)
