How many airports does South Africa have in this index?

This index retains 8 airport records for South Africa (8 large and 0 medium). It is a curated reference set with usable IATA/ICAO codes and coordinates, not a complete national aviation registry.

What is the busiest airport in South Africa?

Based on the curated airport-facts file, the busiest retained record for South Africa is O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg at 28 million passengers. Other airports in the country may carry more traffic; this reflects only retained records with quoted passenger figures.

Which timezone is South Africa in?

All retained airport records in South Africa resolve to Africa/Johannesburg. The zone does not observe a seasonal DST shift in the IANA database.

Does South Africa have international airports?

Yes. The curated airport-facts file flags 7 records with an international-gateway role label in South Africa. The role tags are derived from OurAirports type plus airport naming; verify scheduled international service with the carrier before booking.

Country airport index

Airports in South Africa.

8 airportsPrimary zone: Africa/Johannesburg

This page lists 8 retained airport records in our curated South Africa airport catalog with IATA and ICAO codes, city names, and local timezone information. Airport records come from OurAirports and timezone rules come from the IANA database. Click any airport for coordinates, elevation, the current local time, and nearby airports.

Holidays in South Africa Timezones in South Africa

Airport index methodology

How we calculate this: Airports are grouped by country code, then sorted with large airports first and named airports alphabetically inside each type. Local time uses each airport’s stored IANA timezone identifier. Passenger figures, hub-airline tags, and operational facts come from the per-airport curation file when available; absent figures are left blank rather than estimated.
Data sources: OurAirports for IATA/ICAO, coordinates, elevation, and airport type; IANA Time Zone Database for local-time rules; airport-shaped Wikipedia summaries for the curated facts file (passengers, runways, terminals, hub airlines, operator, year opened); hand-curated country dossier sources (FAA, CAAC, DGCA, Rosaviatsiya, IATA, national civil-aviation authorities) for the editorial dossier block where present; curated country records for country names and locale-safe slugs.
Update cadence: Airport country pages revalidate weekly. The OurAirports source CSV was last fetched 2026-04-25; the airport-facts snapshot was last generated 2026-05-21. This page currently represents 8 large airports rather than a complete national aviation registry.

Content reviewed Apr 30, 2026. This airport index is reviewed as a curated reference surface. It does not claim complete aviation coverage for South Africa; it lists 8 retained airport records (8 large airports) across Africa/Johannesburg.

Coverage note. This is an airport-reference index for timezone and travel planning. It focuses on retained large and medium airport records with usable codes and coordinates, not every runway, heliport, closed facility, or local landing strip. Airport service levels, terminal operations, route availability, and codes can change; verify with the airport, airline, NOTAM, or official aviation source before travel.

Country airport evidence

Why this South Africa airport page is retained

12/12 signals

This page is classified as a compact gateway set. The evidence score comes from static source coverage: codes, airport facts, official domains, city-clock handoffs, IANA zones, operational facts, and country dossiers where present.

Retained scope

compact gateway set

South Africa has 8 retained large/medium airport records (8 large, 0 medium) across 1 IANA zone.

Code and entity coverage

8 IATA, 8 ICAO

8 retained records have airport-facts rows; 7 cite official airport domains and 8 carry Wikidata entity links.

Traffic and operation facts

2 passenger rows

2 records quote passenger-volume facts; 14 runway counts are aggregated where quoted; 8 records carry scheduled-service flags.

Timezone pattern

single airport-timezone cluster

The retained airport set resolves to one dominant local-clock pattern, but each airport still stores its own IANA identifier for DST-safe calculations.

Verification boundary

31 source URLs

Visible source hosts include sa-airports.co.za, en.wikipedia.org, wikidata.org, ourairports.com, airports.co.za, kingshakainternationalairport.co.za, landseria.co.za, ortambo-airport.com. These support identity and static facts, not live routes, terminal assignments, NOTAMs, or airline schedules.

Editorial status

manual dossier attached

Manual dossier sources are attached for country-level aviation context; point-in-time statements still defer to the linked authorities.

Source hosts seen in retained airport facts

sa-airports.co.zaen.wikipedia.orgwikidata.orgourairports.comairports.co.zakingshakainternationalairport.co.zalandseria.co.zaortambo-airport.com

Traveler planning patterns

How to use South Africa airport data without overreading it

Country-specific caveats

Start with the gateway layer

O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) is the first retained airport to check for South Africa; then scan the 8 large and 0 medium records for regional alternates.

Keep airport-local time explicit

The retained airport set behaves like a single local-clock cluster, but the airport-specific IANA zone still matters around DST transitions and imported calendar events.

Use codes for the search, city pages for context

4 airport records link onward to vetted city-time pages, so a code lookup can become a local-clock, daylight, holiday, and meeting-time check.

Treat schedules as live elsewhere

8 retained records carry a scheduled-service flag, but route availability, airline service, terminals, and disruption notices are not live here.

Watch holidays and local operating days

South Africa has a holiday country page on this site, so use it alongside airport time checks for closures, public-holiday pressure, and ground-service planning.

Know what the passenger data covers

2 retained airports quote passenger-volume facts. Airports without a quoted figure are not ranked by traffic on this page.

Airport coverage patterns

How the South Africa airport index is structured

This page adds country-level context around airport counts, code coverage, timezone spread, and city-clock handoffs. It is built from the retained airport dataset rather than a live airline or aviation registry feed.

Coverage pattern

Only 8 airport records are retained for South Africa, mapped across 7 localities — a deliberately small set (8 large and 0 medium; 8 large airports) covering the airports most likely to anchor a city clock or travel check.

Code reliability

Every retained South Africa record carries both an IATA and an ICAO code (8 of each), so passenger-facing and aviation lookups resolve consistently across the set.

Timezone spread

Every retained airport in South Africa resolves to Africa/Johannesburg (8), so the country's airport clocks move together and a single offset check covers the whole set.

Major airport examples

Standout anchors here include Bram Fischer International Airport (BFN) in Bloemfontein, Cape Town International Airport (CPT) in Cape Town, Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport (PLZ) in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), and King Phalo Airport (ELS) in East London. Large airports lead the list because they are the most reliable hooks for travelers, city clocks, and cross-border time checks.

City-clock handoff

Airport records here hand off to indexable city pages such as Johannesburg (HLA, JNB), Cape Town (CPT), and Durban (DUR). Handoffs are restricted to vetted city pages so the airport index does not spend crawl budget on thin local URLs.

Busiest airport

O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg at 28 million passengers sits at the top of the curated passenger ranking for South Africa. Curated passenger figures are attached to 2 retained records on this page. Aggregated curated annual passenger volume across those records is 29.6 million. Numbers come from the airport-facts curation file and reflect the latest year quoted there, not a live traffic feed.

International gateway count

7 retained records carry an international-gateway role label in the curated airport facts for South Africa. Notable hub airlines in the curation file include South African Airways. Role labels are derived from OurAirports type plus airport naming; verify scheduled international service with the carrier before booking.

Regional peer comparison

South Africa has 8 retained airport records vs. Kenya 4, Nigeria 4, Democratic Republic of the Congo 3 in the same continent. This is a structural comparison of retained-record counts, not an audit of national aviation policy or fleet size.

Operational depth

Across the retained South Africa set we have 14 curated runway records and 8 airports flagged with scheduled service. Operational facts come from the Wikipedia-derived airport-facts curation, which is sparse for smaller airports and not a substitute for the airport authority's own data.

Traveler boundary: use these records for timezone orientation and airport discovery. Verify live operations, route availability, terminal status, and NOTAM-sensitive details with official airport, airline, or aviation sources.

Country aviation profile

Aviation profile snapshot for South Africa

Curated airport facts

These numbers aggregate the curated airport-facts file across this country’s retained records. Missing fields mean the curation file does not quote that figure; they are not zero-imputed.

International gateways

Records flagged with an international-gateway role label.

Scheduled service

8 / 8

Records with the OurAirports “scheduled service” flag set.

Runway records

Sum of curated runway counts where the facts file quotes a number.

Curated passenger coverage

Polokwane · PTG · Africa/Johannesburg

FAPP

The airport is located 5 km north of the city.

Operations

scheduled service; 2 runways; longest runway 8,400 ft / 2,560 m

Source signals

Wikipedia summary; Wikidata entity; 4 source labels; 15 coverage signals

en.wikipedia.orgwikidata.orgourairports.com

Time-zone span

Single-zone airport clock for South Africa

All retained airport records resolve to one IANA timezone (Africa/Johannesburg, UTC+02:00 SAST no DST). Local-clock math is simpler here than in multi-zone countries, but the airport’s stored IANA identifier is still the authoritative reference for DST transition weekends.

Busiest curated airports

Top airports in South Africa by curated passenger volume

Numbers from airport-facts file

These ranks reflect passenger volumes quoted in the curated airport-facts file; airports without a quoted figure are excluded from this card even if they may be locally busier.

O.R. Tambo International Airport

Johannesburg · JNB

28 million passengers

2 runways

Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport

Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) · PLZ

1,620,705 passengers

2 runways

Regional peer comparison

South Africa vs. Africa peers

Retained-record counts

Peers are picked by geographic proximity (same continent) and similarity of retained-record counts. Comparison is structural — it does not audit fleet size, national aviation policy, or passenger traffic.

Country	Airports	Large / medium	IANA zones
South Africa	8	8 / 0	1
Kenya	4	4 / 0	1
Nigeria	4	4 / 0	1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	3	3 / 0	2

Country aviation dossier

Editorial context for South Africa aviation

Hand-curated

ACSA's nine airports handled scheduled traffic at 87% of pre-pandemic recovery in 2024, with 18.2 million departing passengers and a 5% YoY rise. O.R. Tambo International (JNB, Johannesburg) accounts for ~49% of departing traffic; Cape Town (CPT) and King Shaka (DUR, Durban) anchor the secondary tier. South African Airways (post-business-rescue), FlySafair, Airlink, and CemAir are the principal carriers. The SACAA regulates; ACSA (Airports Company South Africa) is state-owned.

Sources

Last verified 2026-05-09 · manually curated. Figures quoted in this paragraph are point-in-time; treat the linked sources as authoritative.

Frequently asked

South Africa airport questions

How many airports does South Africa have in this index?: This index retains 8 airport records for South Africa (8 large and 0 medium). It is a curated reference set with usable IATA/ICAO codes and coordinates, not a complete national aviation registry.
What is the busiest airport in South Africa?: Based on the curated airport-facts file, the busiest retained record for South Africa is O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg at 28 million passengers. Other airports in the country may carry more traffic; this reflects only retained records with quoted passenger figures.
Which timezone is South Africa in?: All retained airport records in South Africa resolve to Africa/Johannesburg. The zone does not observe a seasonal DST shift in the IANA database.
Does South Africa have international airports?: Yes. The curated airport-facts file flags 7 records with an international-gateway role label in South Africa. The role tags are derived from OurAirports type plus airport naming; verify scheduled international service with the carrier before booking.
How does South Africa compare with regional peers for airport count?: Among same-continent peers with similar retained-record counts, South Africa has 8 records vs. Kenya (4), Nigeria (4), Democratic Republic of the Congo (3). The comparison covers only retained records on this site, not full national aviation inventories.

Country overview

Airport coverage for South Africa

The retained catalog currently includes 8 airport records in 7 airport cities or localities. Large airports are shown first because they are usually the most useful entry points for flight planning, timezone checks, and nearby-city lookup.

Retained records

Airport localities

Timezone records

1 zone

Time-zone planning

Use the airport clock for travel math

For overnight flights, connections near daylight-saving transitions, and cross-border itineraries, use the airport’s IANA timezone instead of assuming every airport follows the country’s primary zone.

Africa/Johannesburg8 airports

Codes, clocks, and city mapping

How to read the South Africa airport index

IATA + ICAO reference

IATA coverage

8 codes

Useful for passenger-facing flight searches, tickets, airport boards, and quick route lookup.

ICAO coverage

8 codes

Useful for aviation references, flight tracking, weather briefings, and operational documents.

Airport mix

8 large / 0 medium

Gateway airports are prioritized first, but regional airports remain useful for local clock checks.

DST travel risk

Single-zone

Recheck local airport time around overnight arrivals, daylight-saving weekends, and cross-border connections.

Major city to airport links

These rows connect retained airport records to city-time pages, so a reader can move from a flight code to the local clock, nearby planning context, and meeting-time checks.

Johannesburg

2 linked airports

city clock

HLA Lanseria International Airport (Africa/Johannesburg); JNB O.R. Tambo International Airport (Africa/Johannesburg)

Cape Town

1 linked airport

city clock

CPT Cape Town International Airport (Africa/Johannesburg)

Durban

1 linked airport

city clock

DUR King Shaka International Airport (Africa/Johannesburg)

Major airport list

Key airports in South Africa

Large airports first

These entries are pulled from the same retained catalog as the full table below. Use them as a starting point for local time, code lookup, and nearby-city planning, then verify route and terminal details with the airport or airline.

Bram Fischer International Airport

Bloemfontein

BFN