__NOTOC__ Virginia Airport is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

serving

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, the largest city in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of KwaZulu-Natal in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. This

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airport is located north east of Durban. This airport was the home of the Durban Airshow before it ran into problems by failing to meet new public safety standards. The Durban Airshow was eventually permanently cancelled due to the close proximity of the crowd line to the runway. Now Virginia Airport primarily serves as a training ground for pilots of varying skills. The airport was threatened to be closed down in December 2018. The plan was to replace it by a development which would have comprised a hotel, upmarket residential houses as well as leisure and related developments. It was planned to build a new airport in Scottburgh on the South Coast of Durban, what did not materialize because it was disliked by the current Virginia Airport users because it is too far away from the city.

Facilities

The airport is at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

designated 05/23 with an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surface measuring . The airport is home to the Durban Wings Club and thus boasts having one of the oldest flying clubs in the country.

History

Virginia Airport was officially opened by the then Mayor of Durban, W E Shaw in June 1959. The opening was commemorated by an air race which ended at Virginia. The decision to open a new airport was motivated by the need to relocate the light aircraft operating out of the Stamford Hill Aerodrome to a more suitably sized aerodrome. At the time the airport commenced operations it was noted that there were no houses in the vicinity and plenty of room for expansion. Initially just two hangars were relocated from Stamford Hill to Virginia and a few smaller buildings were built. Those same hangars are still in use today. Flughafen Virginia

References

External links

* Airports in South Africa Transport in Durban Buildings and structures in Durban {{SouthAfrica-airport-stub

Facilities

History

See also

References

External links