Durban - Passenger volumes at King Shaka International Airport have shrunk.
The Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) puts this down to the liquidation of Velvet Sky and 1Time airlines, high fuel costs and a decrease in leisure travel.
The tally from April last year to the beginning of this year is 3 547 734. To match the previous financial year, ending at the beginning of April 2011, a further 1 492 360 passengers will have to have passed through between the beginning of this year and the end of this month. Acsa has not yet released the figures for these months.
Over the past six years an average of around 1 127 805 went through the airport between January and March.
“The state of the South African economy has to be considered when reflecting on the low passenger numbers,” said airport spokesman Colin Naidoo.
He said aircraft fuel was the largest component of an airline’s expenses and that during the past year the fuel price had gone up to $115 (R1 056) a barrel.
“Other operational costs such as labour have increased above inflation.”
The airport will be three years old in May.
In the first financial year of operation, which included one month’s statistics carried over from Durban International Airport, 4 873 571 passengers passed through. From April 2011 to March last year the figure rose to 5 040 094. - Independent on Saturday