‘Crumbling’ Swakop runway closed

THE Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) last week ordered the main runway at the Swakopmund airport closed because of its poor condition.
According to the Traffic Control Officer at the airport, Noël Krohne, the order was issued on Wednesday, and there was no indication as to the duration of the closure.

‘This is an uncomfortable situation at the moment. We get about 50 aircraft a day, and now they have to make use of the smaller runway, which can cause delays for up to 15 minutes,’ he told The Namibian.He said pilots are concerned about the safety of landing or taking off from the main runway, which is crumbling.Krohne suggested that, until the main runway is repaired in full, its tar surface should be scraped off so that the gravel surface could be used in the meantime.’At least this will be usable again and not interfere with the air traffic here until such time as we all have an idea when a proper repair job will take place. No one complained about a gravel runway in the old days,’ he said. ‘It’s just important that this main runway is opened again as soon as possible.’A local pilot claimed that the owner of the airport, Brian Roos, is not communicating with pilots and operators. Apparently Roos has been leasing the airport from the Municipality for nearly five years now. ‘Since he took over, passenger and landing fees have just kept climbing while little maintenance is being done,’ the pilot told The Namibian.’There’s just no money going into the airfield, yet he is asking for a lot of money for the use of the airport.’ Roos told The Namibian that plans for the development and maintenance for the airport have been submitted to the Swakopmund Municipality for approval, but he does not know when the municipality will consider them.