South African National Parks (SANParks) said that contingency plans were in place to ensure the smooth running of operations at Skukuza Airport in the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga.
This comes after the thatch roof at the airport caught fire in the afternoon on Sunday, October 6. The unfortunate incident occurred as the country looked forward to peak travel season.
According to a post shared to social media platform X by @EdwardthembaSa, the airport’s thatch roof caught fire while there were passengers in the lounge waiting for the last flight at the airport.
SANParks said that no injuries were reported and travellers were evacuated safely.
👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/nZjEM9WbTe
“Fire teams were shortly on the scene and managed to bring the fire under control. The airport has contingency plans in place to ensure smooth interim operations tomorrow,” read the post.
The cause of the fire at Skukuza Airport is yet to be established while the severity of the damage to the airport is unknown. However, pictures shared on social media show that the airport is badly damaged.
Unfortunately Skukuza Airport was on fire this Afternoon..Cause not known yet😬😬😬❤️😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/lsn1sqHtrh
Skukuza Airport is known as the gateway to the Kruger National Park and is managed by the Skukuza Airport Management Company, in conjunction with SANParks.
Airlink operates daily scheduled flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town to Skukuza Airport.