King Shaka International Airport will be celebrating its first birthday on Sunday in a carnival style reminiscent of its opening on May 1 last year.
The line-up includes clowns, stilt walkers, face painters, competitions, a live broadcast by East Coast Radio and entertainment by South African Idols runner-up Lloyd Cele from Durban.
The airport was built at a cost of more than R7.8 billion by the Airports Company of SA (Acsa) and Dube TradePort. It was officially opened by President Jacob Zuma.
General manager Terence Delomoney said that other than the entertainment and live broadcasts, parking would be discounted.
“Acsa will also be introducing ‘long stay’ parking in the shaded parking area from Sunday,” he said.
“This is in reaction to complaints from the public and it will be a cheaper option for those wishing to use the parking facility for longer periods.”
Delomoney said passenger numbers had increased on average by 10 percent until March 31 and the airport was set to top the five million passengers mark.
“The airport has been in existence for just one year and it may seem too soon to gauge the economic contributions to the region.
“But what is extremely exciting is that the passenger numbers have steadily increased.”