Up, up and away for Margate Airport

The fire truck is up-and-running and there are no issues with the runway at Margate Airport.
There was panic recently after a statement was released saying the airport had been ‘downgraded’ and flights were re-routed to King Shaka International Airport.

However, Simon April, spokesperson of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) said the post on ‘deteriorating runway’ was withdrawn, and an apology tendered for an inaccurate statement as it was not factual.

“There are no issues whatsoever with the runway at Margate Airport as it was upgraded even before it was in a state of disrepair,” said April.

He confirmed that the fire truck is up and running, having been tested by experts, flights have resumed and the municipality continues to engage other spheres of government for assistance with the backup fire truck.
Flights resumed from Johannesburg to Margate on Monday last week.

The municipal-owned Margate Airport underwent an extensive R11m refurbishment last year, upgrading the airport to a Category 4.
April added that the fire truck was not part of the revamp that was recently done in the airport.

This year also marks CemAir’s 10 year anniversary of the popular service between Johannesburg and Margate.
Miles van der Molen, CEO of CemAir confirmed that the ‘deteriorating runway conditions’ was an error and is incorrect.

“The issue was the fire engine. The unit had some mechanical issues but we do not have full information on the exact issues. The airport initially said that the unit would be repaired by August 11, however we were informed on August 5 that repairs had been carried out.”

Van der Molen said the Civil Aviation Authority carries out frequent and comprehensive inspections of all aspects of the airport and provides the licensee (the municipality) with the reports.

“The airport chooses not to share these reports with us so we unfortunately have no visibility on issues that are becoming critical. On this occasion we were informed the afternoon before the day of the downgrade.”

Councillor Jean Schmidt of Ward 6 said the fire engine is old, and it’s been old for many years.

“A new fire truck is on the budget for this financial year, but why wait until a total collapse of the old fire engine before we budget for a new one? It’s again flogging the proverbial dead horse before plans are put into action.”

“These types of failures are becoming more and more apparent, looking at the collapsing infrastructure around the various municipalities (roads, streetlights, water, sanitation etc),” he said.

On a positive note, when King Joe, the Xhosa Trapstar decided to shoot his next music video he chose to do it at none other than… Margate Airport.

King Joe is Pumelele Bara’s stage name. He is based in Gauteng and is the pioneer of the sound known as Xhosa Trap.

“I shot at Margate Airport because I wanted to showcase the beauty of Margate. I have a home on the coast, so I decided I’d use the time while I’m still here to shoot this side. Margate Airport is one of the amazing landmarks that the town has to offer, I just had to use it,” he said.

Bara said he had heard about the downgrade and CemAir re-routing flights to Durban. “I was happy to hear that it has been restored. The airport plays a vital role in the town’s travel and tourism.”

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