Namibia: Air Namibia temporarily suspends flights to Walvis Bay! [update]

update (19 June 2020): Air Namibia has extended the suspension of services between between Eros Airport (ERS) in Windhoek and Walvis Bay International Airport (WVB) in Walvis Bay until 30 June 2020 due to the stage 1 restrictions in the entire Erongo Region.

update (10 June 2020): Air Namibia has extended the suspension of services between between Eros Airport (ERS) in Windhoek and Walvis Bay International Airport (WVB) in Walvis Bay until 22 June 2020 due to the stage 1 restrictions in the entire Erongo Region. 

Namibia's flag carrier, Air Namibia, just announced the temporarily suspension of flights between Eros Airport (ERS) in Windhoek and Walvis Bay International Airport (WVB) in Walvis Bay. The suspension will be effective from today, 29 May 2020, until 08 June 2020. This is in compliance with the regulations enforced by the Government of Namibia. 
Walvis Bay has been temporarily moved back to stage one of Namibia's four-stage strategy to exit the coronavirus lockdown until 07 June 2020, while the rest of the country moved forward to stage three. The two latest cases diagnosed with COVID-19 in Namibia were registered in Walvis Bay (as of 28 May 2020). One of the cases is still in a critical condition in a hospital in Walvis Bay.
Air Namibia resumed domestic operations in Namibia on 06 May 2020 in line with stage two of the country's four-stage strategy to exit its coronavirus lockdown.

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Kruger National Park Calendar - July!

Weather:

• warm to cool days
• cold nights & chilly mornings
• occasional winds
• occasional patches of hot weather
• almost no rain

Temperatures:

• between 9°C - 26°C (Fahrenheit: e.g. 28°C = [(28x9)]/5 + 32 = 82.4°F)
• visit our webcam page for live footage from Kruger National Park!

 Landscape:

• Water becomes scarce throughout the park
• bush is very dry; almost no leaf cover
• strange-smelling "potato bush" begins flowering

Animal Activity:

• Game increasingly concentrated around water
• game spotting usually very good in the South of the park
• north of the park dominated by elephants
• resident raptors breeding
• many weaker aninmals taken by predators

Kruger National Park tours >>
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Coronavirus pandemic: Namibia moves to stage three of its four-stage strategy to exit the lockdown! [update]

update (29 May 2020): The town of Walvis Bay immediately moved back to stage one (full lockdown).

Namibia's President Dr. Hage G. Geingob today (28 May 2020) announced that all 14 regions of the country, with the exception of the town of Walvis Bay, will transit from stage two to stage three of its four-stage strategy to exit the coronavirus lockdown at midnight on 01 June 2020. Stage three will last from 02 June 2020 until midnight on 29 June 2020. The town of Walvis Bay, where Namibia's last two coronavirus infections occurred, will revert to stage one until 08 June 2020.
Namibia has to date recorded 22 confirmed coronavirus cases, which all have been classified to be sporadic and travel related. To this point, no incidence of community transmission occurred in Namibia. There has been no coronavirus/covid-19 related death in Namibia to date.

Coronavirus pandemic: South Africa remains closed for international tourism until 2021! [update]

update (08 June 2020): The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA), a non-profit, member-driven association representing the region's tourism private sector, just wrote on facebook: "Reports that South Africa's international tourism will only reopen in 2021 are premature as South Africa's Risk-Adjusted Strategy is based on levels of lockdown, not dates. Industry is lobbying for phased reopening of international inbound tourism as close to 1 September 2020 as possible based on stringent safety and health protocols." For more on this topic, watch SATSA's webinar on youtube.

According to a press release, issued by the chairpersons of the Portfolio Committee on Tourism; and the Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Small Business Development, Tourism, Employment and Labour, domestic tourism in South Africa will re-open in December 2020, while international tourism will only commence in February 2021. Certain areas of business travel will be able to operate during alert level three of South Africa's risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of the coronavirus, which will come into effect on 01 June 2020.

South Africa's tourism sector, which is currently "the most affected sector of all sectors during the lockdown" [src.] as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, directly accounted for 2.8% of the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018. The indirect contribution of the tourism sector to the economy's GDP in 2018 stood at an even higher 8.2%. [src.]

Johannesburg: "STAY UP - a street art film experience of Maboneng"!

Curiocity, a network of African design hostels in South Africa, has released a worth seeing documentary about street art in the Maboneng Precinct of Johannesburg. Filmed during the coronavirus lockdown, the murals, that are typically a silent backdrop, came alive, telling their own stories in this uniquely empty space created by the pandemic. "STAY UP - a street art film experience of Maboneng" is a tribute to the artists that are the fabric of this neighborhood, and their work that creates the energy that Maboneng is known for. Kudos to Kim Lieberman, VHILS, the postman_art, FALKO, Remed, Snowchino, dbongz_one, Karabo Poppy, ROA, Reggiethenomad, Link1, PASTELHEART, Kazy_Usclef, Nix_indamix,Ownurcrown, SENZAART911, FreddySam, Nelson Makamo, CYRCLE, ICY SIGNS as well as to Bheki Dube of Curiocity and everyone else involved in the production of the film.

Curiocity's first hostel - Curiocity Johannesburg - was opened up by Bheki Dube in the Maboneng Precinct of Johannesburg in 2013. It is one of the pioneering developments in the district that has fast become a centre of creative energy for Johannesburg's urban artists. Currently, Curiocity also has hostels located Durban (since 2016) and Cape Town (since 2019).

Botswana: Air Botswana resumes domestic operations! [update]

update (15 June 2020): Air Botswana did not resume flights on 12 June 2020. The airline's services remain suspended until further notice!

Botswana's flag carrier, Air Botswana, is set to resume domestic flights in Botswana. Effective 12 June 2020, the airline will mainly operate flights from Gaborone to Francistown, Maun and Kasane. International flights will remain suspended as borders are still closed for passenger movement. Air Botswana will adhere to all COVID-19 protocols as set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as domestic regulations emanating from Botswana's response to the pandemic. The airline suspended operations on 27 March 2020 in response to the corona pandemic.

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South Africa: South African Airways to resume domestic services! [update]

update (27 May 2020): The business rescue practitioners (BRP) of South African Airways (SAA), Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, said that the airlines statement, in which the resumption of domestic servies from mid-June 2020 was announced, was not authorised by them. They rejected the statement and announced that the airline is not preparing to resume flights. SAA has been placed into business rescue in December 2019, and all media statements have to be approved by the BRPs.

South Africa's flag carrier, South African Airways (SAA), today announced that it is currently retaining its domestic schedule, as published between Johannesburg and Cape Town, with effect from mid-June 2020. Accordingly, the airline is focusing on ensuring operational readiness to resume flights once permissible. This position will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
At the same time, South African Airways is cancelling all planned scheduled flights on regional and international services until the end of June 2020 with immediate effect. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the aviation industry, the airline is limiting its service to domestic flights in South Africa.
Travellers holding unused tickets for flights with South African Airways do not need to contact the airline at this time. All customers will be able to use their ticket's full value as a credit for travel on any service by South African Airways up to an including 24 March 2022. The airline will also permit a free name change if any individual customer no longer wishes to travel.

South Africa moves to alert level three of its risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of COVID-19 with effect from 01 June 2020. During level three domestic air travel will be allowed, but only for business travel.

South Africa: All rhinos in Pilanesberg National Park have been dehorned!

The North West Parks Board, the governmental organisation responsible for the management of protected areas and public nature reserves in South Africa's North West Province, has announced the decision to trim the horns of all black rhinos and all white rhinos in Pilanesberg National Park. The dehorning of the animals has been done with the help of a veterinary services expert who arrived in Pilanesberg on 12 May 2020. According to a regarding press release, the motivation behind the the drastic measure of interventions was not only to save the species, but also to ensure that the "reward to poachers is reduced" and that "the risks to the poacher are increased". In addition the dehorning of Pilanesberg's rhinos, the North West Parks Board will also significantly increase the security efforts in the protected areas and public nature reserves under its management.
Pilanesberg National Park is home to one of the most important white rhino populations in South Africa and even the world. Both white and black rhino are adapting extemely well in the National Park and have been used to establish new populations across South Africa and neighboring Botswana. The rhino population of Pilanesberg National Park has been hit hard by illegal poaching for at least the past seven years. Over this period, the National Park lost at least 120 rhinos to poaching activities.

The Pilanesberg Nature Reserve (or Game Reserve, National Park) is situated 50km north of Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa and borders on the famous Sun City entertainment complex. The wildlife sanctuary has an area of 572 km² and accommodates virtually every mammal of southern Africa, including the Big Five. There are nearly 200 km of excellent quality roads for either self-drives or guided drives.

South Africa: Rhino poaching drops significantly during lockdown!

South Africa's Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, has announced that South Africa has experienced a significant decline in rhino poaching since the lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus commenced. According to Minister Creecy, April 2020 saw a marked decrease in rhino poaching countrywide, with the fewest rhinos poached in the Kruger National Park in a single month since September 2013.
A total of 14 rhino were poached across the country during April 2020 – the first month of the national Covid-19 lockdown. A total of 46 rhino were poached nationwide in March 2020. In Kruger National Park five rhino were poached during April 2020, compared to 46 in April 2019. In KwaZulu-Natal six rhino were poached, two were killed in Mpumalanga and one in North West Province. In April 2019, a total of 61 rhino were poached nationwide.
Significantly, not a single rhino has been lost in the Intensive Protection Zone of Kruger National Park since the start of April 2020. This has not happened in this particular part of the Greater Kruger area in a single month since 2007.
The sharp decrease in rhino poaching in Kruger National Park in April 2020 comes after the park recorded that the number of births equalled the combined natural and poaching deaths for the first time in five years by the end of 2019.
Between January and April 2020, 33 poachers were arrested and 20 heavy calibre firearms confiscated.

Reasons for the decline of rhino poaching in South Africa during the lockdown:

• disruption of the supply chain resulting from the national travel restrictions, including limitations placed on movement across South Africa
• closure of South Africa's borders and the complete shutdown of international air travel removed the key way that syndicates used to supply horn to transit and consumer countries
• increase in the effectiveness of the K9 Anti-Poaching Unit using free running hounds supported by rapid reaction through air support and improved mobility
• South African National Parks (SANParks) has closed park entrance gates to tourists due to the national lockdown. This has had an impact on poaching as poachers are now unable to use drive-in and drop-off tactics they had previously utilised to kill rhino for their horn

Coronavirus pandemic: South Africa moves to alert level 3 on 01 June 2020!

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in a televised address on 24 May 2020 that South Africa will move to alert level 3 of its risk-adjusted strategy to manage the spread of COVID-19 with effect from 01 June 2020. This applies to the whole of the country, including areas that have been declared as coronavirus hotspots. These are Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, Cape Town, West Coast district municipality, Overberg district municipality, Cape Winelands district municipality (all Western Cape), Chris Hani district municipality (Eastern Cape) and the iLembe district municipality (KwaZulu-Natal). According to President Ramaphosa, these areas will be reviewed every two weeks and will most-probably see more stringent movement restrictions compared to other parts of South Africa. 

via https://twitter.com/PresidencyZA

During alert level 3, all areas of the economy will be allowed to reopen. Excluded are high-risk activities, which will remain prohibited. These include:

• restaurants, bars and taverns, except for delivery or collection of food.
• accommodation and domestic air travel, except for business travel, which will be phased in on dates to be announced.
• conferences, events, entertainment and sporting activities.
• personal care services, including hairdressing and beauty services.

The current curfew from 20h00 – 05h00 will no longer apply and people will be able to exercise at any time during the day, provided this is not done in groups. Alcohol will be sold for home consumption, while the prohibition on smoking products, including cigarettes, will continue. South Africa's borders will remain closed during alert level 3, except for the transportation of goods and repatriation of citizens.

Coronavirus pandemic: Botswana ends nationwide lockdown! [update]

update (16 June 2020): The lockdown in the Greater Gaborone COVID-19 Zone was lifted from midnight Monday 15 June 2020.

update (13 June 2020): Botswana brought back a strict coronavirus lockdown in its capital city, Gaborone, and surrounding areas on 12 June 2020 after eight new coronavirus cases at a private hospital.

In line with Botswana's stragety of sequentially easing the lockdown restrictions introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the country has finished the final phase three at midnight (20 May 2020). With the end of the lockdown restrictions, the Government of Botswana has brought "COVID-19 zones", which are part of its continued coronavirus containment strategy, into effect. The Government of Botswana has divided the country into nine zones: Greater Gaborone zone, Greater Francistown zone, Greater Palapye zone, Boteti zone, Greater Maun zone, Chobe zone, Kgalagadi zone, Ghanzi zone and Greater Phikwe zone. Through the demarcation of the "COVID-19 zones", the Government is able to restrict the movement of people in Botswana and to swiftly response in the event of an agressive outbreak. 
As of today (21 May 2020), people in Botswana are allowed to move freely within a "COVID-19 zone" and only require an official permit when moving between zones. The Government of Botswana continues to urge the people to wear masks/face coverings in public places, businesses and common areas of residential buildings, to observe social distancing, to use sanitizers and to frequently wash hands. Organisations (both formal and informal sectors) must ensure that the following is carried out on a continuous basis:

• daily Covid-19 temperature screening
• enforce wearing of face mask
• 2 to 3 times a day cleaning/desinfection of shared spaces
• Availability of hand sanitizers
• Register of all employees, visitors and clients
• deny entry or service to persons who do not comply
• enforce social distancing

Zimbabwe: Fastjet (Zimbabwe) extends the current flight suspension!

Following the decision by the Government of Zimbabwe to extend the nationwide lockdown meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus for an indefinite period, Fastjet (Zimbabwe) has adjusted its plans to resume operations. As of 18 May 2020, the airline's services in Zimbabwe and South Africa will remain suspended up to and including 30 June 2020. Fastjet (Zimbabwe) remains committed to resuming flight services earlier than the revised date should there be any easing of the current restrictions on the movement of people. 
Fastjet's (Zimbabwe) flexible booking change policy allows unlimited changes with no fees until 30 September 2020 for all affected customers on suspended flights. The airline's call centre, shops, airport ticket sales and trade support services will remain closed will remain closed until further notice.

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Coronavirus pandemic: Tanzania has re-opened its airspace for international flights!

The Government of Tanzania has lifted the ban on international flights on 18 May 2020. Both non-scheduled and scheduled air services, such as commercial passenger flights, diplomatic flights, aircraft in emergency and operations related to humanitarian aid, medical and relief, are allowed to land in and depart from Tanzanian airports without any restrictons. According to the country's President John Magufuli, travellers are allowed to enter Tanzania without being quarantined as long as their body-temperature don't point to anything unusual. Tanzania closed its airspace on 11 April 2020 as a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus. 
The President also directed Tanzania's state-owned flag carrier airline Air Tanzania to resume operations to countries that have opened their skies or those seeking the airline's services.

Coronavirus pandemic: Zambia has re-opened the Victoria Falls!

Zambia's President Edgar Lungu has ordered the re-opening of the Victoria Falls to the public on 13 May 2020. The Zambian side of the famous Victoria Falls was closed since 01 April 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Zambia's head of state directed that the UNESCO World Heritage Site should reopen under the new normal and urged all visitors to follow health guidelines of wearing masks and practising social distancing. According to President Lungu his decision to re-open the Victoria Falls was based on the City of Livingstone not recording any cases of the coronavirus.
The Victoria Falls, which is located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe on the Zambezi River, is one of Seven Wonders of the World and one of Zambia's most visited tourist destinations.

Coronavirus pandemic: Zimbabwe has extended the nationwide lockdown indefinitely

The Government of Zimbabwe has extended the nationwide lockdown meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus for an indefinite period. In an address to the nation on 16 May 2020, the country's President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe will continue on Level 2 lockdown to enable the country to further strengthen its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Under Level 2 lockdown, industry and commerce have been allowed to reopen under supervision while the informal sector remains closed. Inter-city travel also remains banned and the wearing of protective masks in public places is legally required. According to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Government of Zimbabwe will review the restrictions every two weeks.Zimbabwe imposed its lockdown on 30 March 2020 and has recorded so far 44 confirmed coronavirus cases and four related deaths.

Coronavirus pandemic: TAZARA has released an update on its passenger train services in Tanzania & Zambia! [update]

update (06 August 2020): TAZARA's cross-border passenger trains between Tanzania and Zambia remain suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, until further notice. 

update (20 July 2020): TAZARA's cross-border passenger trains between Tanzania and Zambia remain suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, until further notice.

update (30 May 2020): The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) has repaired the track formation that got damaged at KM32 in Mwakanga (32 kilometres south-west of Dar es Salaam), following a landslide that occurred on 30 April 2020 and resulted in the track being rendered impassable. Train operations have now resumed.

update (25 May 2020): The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) has announced the resumption of services in Zambia. Following the easing of the lockdown in the city of Nakonde, Passenger Train operations between New Kapiri Mposhi and Nakonde have been resumed.
The Mukuba Express Train will, from 26 May 2020, run on the usual timetable, departing New Kapiri Mposhi at 16:00 and return from Nakonde on Saturday 30 May at 16:47. The cross-border passenger trains between Tanzania and Zambia remain suspended until further notice.

update (23 May 2020): The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) is frantically working on restoring train operations following a disruption occasioned by a landslide that occurred on 30 April 2020 around the Mwakanga area, 32 kilometres south-west of Dar es Salaam. The landslide was caused by heavy and persistent rainfall in the area, which weakened 35 metres of the track formation, rendering the railroad impassable.

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) has relased a update on its passenger train services. According to TAZARA, the passenger train service between Tanzania and Zambia will remain suspended until further notice due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Mukuba Passenger Train for Zambia (Kapiri Mposhi <> Nakonde) also remains suspended until further notice, due to the lockdown in Nakonde. The Kilimanjaro Passenger Train for Tanzania is also not operating, due to technical reasons, until further notice. Only the Udzungwa Shuttle Train (Kidatu <> Makambako) and the Dar es Salaam Commuter Train (Dar es Salaam <> Mwakanga) are currently running on schedule.
The TAZARA Railway, operated by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), is a railroad in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with the town of New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province.

Botswana continues to ease the lockdown: National Parks, Game Reserves and guest houses are allowed to re-open!

update (22 May 2020): The National Parks and Game Reserves in Botswana are set to re-open on 23 May 2020.

In line with Botswana's stragety of sequentially easing the lockdown restrictions introduced to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the country has finished phase two at midnight (14 May 2020) and now enters into the final phase three from today (15 May 2020) until 22 May 2020. In phase three the National Parks and Game Reserves in Botswana are allowed to re-open. The same applies to museums. Commercial guest houses are also allowed to re-start welcoming guests. International travel remains suspended, but domestic travel between Botswana's nine Covid-zones is allowed provided that a "green permit" has been previously obtained. Restaurants (for sit down), cinemas, casinos, book shops and curio shops are also permitted to commence operations, but only at 50% (National Parks, Game Reserves, guest houses at 70%) of their staff complement from their lockdown baseline staffing levels. 
The minimum requirements for all entities mentioned include:

• daily Covid-19 temperature screening
• face mask is mandatory for all
• 2 to 3 times a day cleaning/desinfection of shared spaces
• hand sanitizers on entry and frequently thereafter
• keep a register of all employees, visitors and clients
• deny entry or service to persons who do not comply

Hardap Resort: Namibia Wildlife Resorts releases new promotional video!

Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), the state-owned enterprise mandated to run the tourism facilities within the protected areas of Namibia, has released a new promotional video showcasing Hardap Resort. The Resort is situated about 260 km south of Windhoek and about 25km west of Mariental in Namibia's Hardap Region. It surrounds the Hardap Dam, Namibia's largest dam, which lies on the Fish River. Hardap Dam is an angler's paradise, while Hardap Resort's Hardap Game Reserve is is a haven for black thinos and also home to giraffes, gemsboks, springboks, kudus, Hartmann’s mountain zebras, black backed jackals as well as to one of the three largest great white pelican breeding colonies in Namibia. 

NWR manages the accommodation in Hardap Resort, which includes 5 VIP bungalows, 15 family chalets (each with 4 beds), 30 bush chalets (each with 2 beds, 28 campsites (each can take 8 people) as well as 4 dormitories (each with 10 beds). Hardap Resort also has a restaurant, a shop, swimming pool and conference facilities.

South Africa: Tourism KwaZulu-Natal has released an inspirational "we will see you soon" video!

KwaZulu-Natal's provincial tourism agency, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, has released a new video to inspire potential travellers from around the world to visit the province once the coronavirus pandemic is over and travelling is possible again. The one-minute-long video showcases some of the most picturesque locations and attractions KwaZulu-Natal has to offer and reminds all travellers that the Kingdom of Zululand might deserve a top position on the bucket list once the lockdown ends. Kudos Tourism KwaZulu-Natal!

Airlink and South African Airways reached agreement for the re-accommodation of tickets issued by SAA for travel on Airlink flights!

South African regional carrier Airlink has reached agreement with South African Airways (SAA), which is in business rescue since 05 December 2019, regarding the re-accommodation of tickets issued by SAA after 06 December 2019 for travel on Airlink flights. The airline's ticketing team will manage the re-issue and re-accommodation process. Once tickets have been re-accommodated and re-issued, Airlink customers will be able to contact the airline's customer care team to arrange their re-booking.
According to the new terms of Airlink's (discontinued) franchise relationship with South African Airways, the revenue from ticket sales will stay with South African Airways for all SAA-issued "083" tickets on Airlink "SA8" flights until such time as the flight liability has been fulfilled.
The re-accommodation agreement will allow the transfer of the ticket sale revenue – together with liability for service delivery – to Airlink. Therefore, until the re-accommodations have been affected, Airlink cannot arrange re-bookings as the ticket sale revenue is in possession of South African Airways. 
The re-accommodation solution does not apply to tickets purchased prior to and including 06 December 2019. Customers holding tickets for this period are advised to refer to South African Airways' business rescue practioners, Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana, for further assistance.

South Africa: South African Airways to be put into business rescue! [update] >>
South Africa: Airlink to operate flights under own flight code! [update] >>

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South Africa: South African Airways to stay in the air!

South Africa's state-owned flag carrier, South African Airways (SAA), which has been fighting for its survival since entering a form of bankruptcy protection in December 2019, has announced that it will continue to operate repatriation and cargo flights during the month of May 2020 and beyond. The airline reassured that it will honour all existing commitments to provide air transportation services to its customers and any other requests that it receives. There are several requests for repatriation flights to operate to North Africa, West Africa and East Africa, the UK, the Middle East, South America and North America, and the Far East during the course of this month that are being considered by the airline.

"We are in ongoing discussions with the Departments of Public Enterprises (DPE) and that of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), regarding other destinations where South African citizens may be stranded. Further, we are responding proactively in those instances where there is a need for essential humanitarian cargo for our country and for the neighbouring states to be uplifted," says Thandeka Mgoduso, Interim SAA Executive Chairperson.

According to South African Airways (SAA), it has transported more than 9 100 passengers to six continents and more than 870 tons of freight since 03 April 2020. As long as such requests are received, the airline will endeavour to fulfill them. 

Survey: Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town named Best Airport in Africa for the fifth consecutive year!

Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town was named Best Airport in Africa for the fifth consecutive year at the 2020 SKYTRAX World Airport Awards™. Durban's King Shaka International Airport (DUR) came in second in the continental category, followed by OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg. East London Airport (ELS) in East London was voted 6th Best Airport in Africa 2020, Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) in Port Elizabeth was named 7th best and and Kigali's Kigali International Airport (KGL) 9th Best Airport in Africa 2020. King Shaka International Airport (DUR) won the award for Best Regional Airport in Africa 2020 (4th in global ranking!). East London Airport (ELS) came in 3rd in this category, followed by Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), Kigali International Airport (KGL), Bram Fischer International Airport (BFN) in Bloemfontein and Windhoek's Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH). King Shaka International Airport (DUR) was also awarded for having the Best Airport Staff in Africa in 2020. Cape Town International Airport (CPT) came in second, followed by OR Tambo International Airport (JNB), while Kigali International Airport (KGL) was awarded fifth best, Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) 9th best and East London Airport (ELS) 10th best in the category Best Airport Staff in Africa in 2020. King Shaka International Airport (DUR) also scooped the award for being the world's Best Airport 2020 (5-10 million passengers). Cape Town International Airport (CPT) was voted second Best Airport 2020 (10 - 20 million passengers) and OR Tambo International Airprt (JNB) 6th Best Airport 2020 (20 - 30 million passengers). Congratulations!

Best Airports in Africa 2020:

1. Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town, South Africa
2. King Shaka International Airport (DUR) in Durban, South Africa
3. OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg, South Africa
4. Mauritius
5. Marrakech
6. East London Airport (ELS) in East London, South Africa
7. Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
8. Seychelles
9. Kigali International Airport (KGL) in Kigali
10. Casablanca
    

Best Regional Airports in Africa 2020:

1. King Shaka International Airport (DUR) in Durban, South Africa
2. Marrakech
3. East London Airport (ELS) in East London, South Africa
4. Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
5. Kigali International Airport (KGL) in Kigali, Rwanda
6. Bram Fischer International Airport (BFN) in Bloemfontein, South Africa
7. Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) in Windhoek, Namibia
8. Hurghada
9. Dakar
10. Luxor
    

Best Airport Staff in Africa 2020:

1. King Shaka International Airport (DUR) in Durban, South Africa
2. Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town, South Africa
3. OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg, South Africa
4. Mauritius
5. Kigali International Airport (KGL) in Kigali, Rwanda
6. Seychelles
7. Marrakech
8. Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
9. La Réunion
10. East London Airport (ELS) in East London, South Africa

The 2020 Skytrax World Airports Awards are a measurement of customer satisfaction across over 550 airports globally. The awards are administered independently and based on surveys of passenger opinion. They are regarded as a quality benchmark for the world airport industry.