IT seems the likes of Biggles and Douglas Bader might just be landing at Scottburgh Airport after all.
eThekweni’s decision to move their ‘city airport’, Virginia, to our dusty ‘dungway’ seems somewhat bizarre, but who are we to complain?
Local flyboys are still sceptical and say it will never work as farmland will have to be acquired to extend the runway, and planes will have to fly low over Scottburgh on take-off or to land.
However, those pilots who use Virginia should be used to that as Durban North is also pretty built up.
In fact, golfers teeing off on the par-five 17th at the adjacent Beachwood Country Club sometimes have to hold back for fear of hitting a plane. There’s even a warning sign on the tee-box.
Apart from the obvious economic benefits for Scottburgh, a busier airport is bound to provide front page fodder for local newspapers.
Virginia has seen many a ‘ditching’ in the sea, but the most horrific headlines involved a skydiver.
Four women were teeing off on the 10th at Beachwood one fine day when a skydiver plummeted to his death on the fairway a few metres in front of them. His parachute had failed to deploy.
Then there was the Virginia Air Show which was world-famous and drew crowds in their tens of thousands.
Much to the disappointment of every flying enthusiast, it was grounded this year for some reason, but perhaps we can convince the organisers to glide our way in the years to come.
Is this all just a ‘Piper’ dream?
Maybe, but it would certainly give Scottburgh and the whole of Umdoni municipality a welcome boost.
We encourage Umdoni councillors to roll out the runway for their eThekweni counterparts and do whatever it takes to help make it a reality.
