DURBAN'S King Shaka International Airport has been open for less than a year, but has already been rated among Africa's best by global aviation authorities.
Terence Delomoney, general manager of King Shaka International Airport and National Airports, with assistant general manager Bongiwe Pityi, are all smiles after the airport received top honours from Skytrax and the Airports Council International.

The airport featured on several high-profile international rankings recently, including being named Africa's Best Regional Airport in the 2011 Skytrax World Airport Awards last month.

Skytrax also listed King Shaka as the third best overall airport in Africa. Joburg's OR Tambo International Airport beat Cape Town International Airport into top spot in Africa this year.

Airports Company SA (Acsa) was basking in the glory of its three major airports scooping the top three spots on the continent. Acsa spent close to R20 billion on its major airports before the World Cup.

About R7.8bn was spent on King Shaka, which has faced some stiff criticism, including over the World Cup semi-final debacle. But critics have been silenced with it boasting the highest passenger growth rate in South Africa and now securing top international recognition.

The airport was also listed as the fourth best airport in Africa by the Airports Council International (ACI) recently. Taking up the top three positions on the continent were Cape Town International, Cairo International Airport in Egypt and OR Tambo.

"Acsa and especially our team here in Durban are very excited and proud of the recent achievements and high ratings of our new airport," said King Shaka general manager Terence Delomoney.

"We were competing against tough competition in the globally recognised and independent rating programmes of Skytrax and ACI. It shows that we can compete with the best in the world and have a world-class airport in Durban. King Shaka International Airport is still a new airport that is coming into its own and this recognition, less than a year since opening, is big for us.

"We really must commend our staff and service providers, because it is due to their effort that we have featured so high in the rankings. The airport business is a tough game and there will always be room for improvement. We are always under the microscope and need to ensure we maintain or improve our position."

Bongiwe Pityi, the assistant general manager, said passenger satisfaction levels had increased tremendously since the airport opened last May.

"But it's not business as usual at the airport and we are committed to maintaining and improving standards.

"Skytrax and ACI are competent global aviation industry organisations that strictly conduct these independent surveys. We are very pleased that although we were under constant scrutiny and tremendous pressure to deliver and operate the airport on time, we still managed to ensure high-service levels and standards," she said.

Delomoney said there were 207 airports on the ACI service quality benchmarking programme.

The 2011 Skytrax World Airport Awards were based on more than 11 million survey questionnaires completed by passengers covering more than 240 airports across the world.

"The survey evaluates traveller

our experiences across 39 various airport service and product elements from check in, arrivals, transfers through to departure gates," he said.

Bheko Madlala, the spokesman for the KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Department, welcomed the accolades for the airport, saying it was an inspiration, especially for those in the tourism industry.

"We are quite chuffed about it. It could not have come at a better time.

"This recognition also gives credit to the decision to build this new airport and we are already reaping the rewards," he said.

The airport has had passenger growth of 11 percent and is set to top the 5 million passenger mark this year.