Over 10 000 arrivals at KMIII Airport

MBABANE – The Ministry of Home Affairs has reported 10 675 arrivals at the King Mswati III International Airport during the year under review.

This is contained in the ministry’s annual performance report (2023/2024) tabled in Parliament recently.

Mlandvo Dlamini, the Communications Officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, was sought for comment to shed light on the figures, whether they exceeded the target or not. It must be said that some people criticised the construction of the airport, with His Majesty, during official opening of the facility, expressing confidence that it would pay dividends for the country as a viable aviation business.

Sources said the figures showed prospects for growth. The report states that a total of 10 442 passengers arrived during this period while there were 179 aircraft departures under the same period. The total number of passengers who departed the country during this period stood at 10 974, but notably is that the report did not provide statistics from the previous years to compare if there was growth.

The summary statistics of cross-border travellers per entry for the period under review reflected that Ngwenya (Oshoek) Border Post recorded the highest numbers, raking in over a million cross-border travellers (1 217.707). The country has 14 ports of entry, 13 being land borders and the one being an airport (KMIII).

Notably, immigration officers

also provide immigration services to clients at Mpaka Railway Station. The overall statistics contained in this report show a steady increase of both arrivals and departures compared to the previous report period.

Matsamo Border Post is ranked second behind Oshoek in terms of being busy during the same period.

Matsamo had 383 648 cross-border travellers while Mahamba is third with 300 906 travellers followed by Mananga with 248 297 travellers.

The total number of travellers in all the mentioned ports of entry is over three million (3 771533). The other entry points include Mhlumeni, Lomahasha, Lavumisa, sandlane, Sicunusa and Nsalitshe. The rest are Gege, Lundzi, Bulembu, KMIII and Matsapha Airport.

In summary, the statistics show that 34.8 per cent of cross-border travellers crossed through the Ngwenya/Oshoek border followed by Matsamo border with 12.1 per cent, Lavumisa with 11.7 per cent and Mahamba with 9.5 per cent.

Also worth noting is that the summary statistics of cross-border travellers per country of all land borders shows that 88.2 percent of cross-border travellers are to and from South Africa and a very small proportion of 11.8 per cent is to and from Mozambique. Both South Africa and Mozambique are the closest neighbours to Eswatini and share a lot of economic ties.

For the Mpaka Railway, the statistics show that 87 per cent of cross-border travellers is to and from South Africa and a very small proportion of 13 per cent is to and from Mozambique. It must also be noted that though previous statistics were not readily available, KMIII Airport is seemingly steadily growing in terms of arrivals and departures for not just passengers, but aircrafts as well.

For Matsapha International Airport, there is evidently less activity as the number of travellers and arrivals are very low, totalling only 3 244 (arrivals and departures combined).