Just a bit of history here... the original Stamford Hill Aerodrome and Tower in Durban, next door to the Country Club and which is now the Natal Mounted Rifles (NMR) headquarters, is pictured in front of the airfield - in those days there were no runways, just a field or circle and you could land in any direction according to the wind blowing. This obviously took a lot more space and over the years runways and cross-runways were developed instead. This airfield no longer exists and the present M4 highway runs approximately mid-way through the old airfield.
When South African Airways started flying DC-4s the main airport was moved from Stamford Hill to the site of the Louis Botha Airport south of Durban and this remained as Durban's international airport until the opening of King Shaka Airport in 2010 in time for the 2010 World Cup Football event in South Africa. We were there at Louis Botha Airport on it's closing day and then visited King Shaka the next day for it's opening - 1st May 2010.
The present Virginia Airport for lighter aircraft lies a few kilometres to the north of the old Stamford Hill aerodrome and was opened in 1959 as a more suitable facility for these aircraft and the air traffic in Durban was effectively split between the two airports from then on.
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| Final Approach runway 05 Virginia |
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| Our airplane ZDL parked at King Shaka International, Durban on our recent trip to Mozambique as we needed to clear passport control and customs |
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