Johannesburg International Airport
Johannesburg International Airport located in Johannesburg, South Africa is one of the largest airports in the southern area of the African continent. It was renamed from "Jan Smuts International Airport" in the mid-1990s. Its IATA Airport Code is JNB. Its ICAO Airport Code is FAJS. The airport is the hub of South Africa's largest international and domestic airline, South African Airways, and a number of smaller local airlines.
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2 Other Notes 3 Airlines |
Johannesburg International has the honourable distinction of ushering in the Jet Age. In 1952, the first commercial flight of a De Havilland Comet jet took off from London Heathrow International Airport, bound for Johannesburg.
During the 1980s many countries stopped trading with South Africa because of their government's Apartheid political ideas, and so many airlines from places worldwide either had to stop flying to the airport or were not allowed to. In addition, SAA was refused rights to fly over most Afrcan countries, forcing them to fly around the "bulge" of Africa. This required specially-modified aircraft like the Boeing 747-SP.
The airport overtook Cairo International Airport in 1996 as the busiest airport in Africa, and is the second-busiest airport in the Africa-Middle East region after Dubai. Figures for 2002 show that more than 12 million people passed through the airport, an increase of some 8% on 2001 figures (www.airlinerworld.com).
There are plans, as of 2004, to create a new transit terminal between the domestic and international terminals, which will also house the Gautrain station linking the airport to Sandton, the city's main business district.
Johannesburg International Airport is regarded as a "hot and high" or a "high and dry" airport. Situated some 1500 metres above sea level, the air is dry and thin, especially in winter. Even in summer, when it rains, the air is still relatively dry and hot. This has implications for the performance of aircraft at altitude. For example, a flight from Johannesburg to New York, making use of either a Boeing 747-400 or an Airbus A340-600, must stop at Lagos, Dakar or Ilha do Sal for refuelling, since the aircraft is not able to make the run on one tank of fuel. This is because of decreased performance on take-off from the airport, where an aircraft cannot take off fully laden with fuel, cargo and passengers, and must use a longer stretch of runway to reach take-off velocity. By contrast, the return leg of the flight from New York to Johannesburg is a non-stop 14-hour flight, with better performance of the aircraft in New York because the city is at sea level. The Johannesburg-New York flight is the third-longest commercial flight in the world, after Singapore - Los Angeles and New York - Hong Kong.
There are two parallel runways, which run north-south, and a disused cross runway. Length of the runways is around 3500 metres each. During busy periods, outbound flights use the inner runway (closest to the terminals) for take-off, while inbound flights use the outer runway for landing. Wind factors may cause numerous variations, but on most days flights will take off to the north and land from the south.
The airport is likely to see the arrival of the new Airbus A380 in its first years of service, as many international airlines operate long-haul routes to Johannesburg. For example, there are five daily flights from London, all making use of Boeing 747-400s. Flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town are two of British Airways' most popular routes.
Johannesburg International also serves as grounds for the South African Airways Museum, a room filled with South African Airways memorabilia and which started as an idea by two fans of the airline until they could set it up in one of Jan Smuts International's buildings in 1987.
History
Other Notes
Airlines
In addition, Cargo flights are flown there by DAS Air Cargo, Fast Air and Singapore Airlines Cargo.