King Phalo Airport

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Use South African English|date=June 2012}}

{{Infobox airport

| name = King Phalo Airport
Koning Phalo Lughawe

| image = East London Airport, South Africa.jpg

| image-width = 250

| IATA = ELS

| ICAO = FAEL

| type = Public

| hub =

| owner =

| opened = {{start date and age|1944}}

| operator = Airports Company South Africa

| city-served = East London, South Africa

| location =

| elevation-f = 436

| elevation-m = 133

| coordinates = {{coord|33|02|06|S|027|49|17|E|region:ZA-EC|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_map = South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa#Africa

| pushpin_relief = yes

| pushpin_label = FAEL

| pushpin_label_position = bottom

| pushpin_map_caption = Location of airport in Eastern Cape province{{hidden begin|title=Location of Eastern Cape in South Africa}}File:Eastern Cape in South Africa.svg{{hidden end}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.airports.co.za/airports/King-Phalo-airport}}

| metric-rwy = yes

| r1-number = 11/29

| r1-length-m = 1,939

| r1-length-f = 6,362

| r1-surface = Asphalt

| r2-number = 06/24

| r2-length-m = 1,585

| r2-length-f = 5,200

| r2-surface = Asphalt

| footnotes = Sources: South African AIP,{{cite web | url = http://www.caa.co.za/resource%20center/Charts/AERONAUTICAL%20CHARTS/E/FAEL_EAST%20LONDON/AD_01/FAEL_AERODROME%20CHART_AD-01%2004APR2013.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180701122245/http://www.caa.co.za/resource%2520center/Charts/AERONAUTICAL%2520CHARTS/E/FAEL_EAST%2520LONDON/AD_01/FAEL_AERODROME%2520CHART_AD-01%252004APR2013.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2018-07-01 | title = FAEL – EAST LONDON | publisher = South African Civil Aviation Authority | date = 4 April 2013 }} DAFIF{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130620005922/http://www.worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?airport=FAEL Airport information for FAEL]}} from DAFIF (effective October 2006){{GCM|ELS|source=DAFIF}}

| stat1-header = Passenger traffic

| stat1-data = 930,929

| stat-year = Jan-Dec 2019

}}

King Phalo Airport {{Airport codes|ELS|FAEL}} ({{langx|af|Koning Phalo Lughawe}}; formerly East London Airport ({{langx|af|Oos-Londen Lughawe}}) until 23 February 2021){{Cite web |title=Two SA airports – and Port Elizabeth – just got official new names |url=https://www.businessinsider.co.za/name-changes-for-pe-and-east-london-airports-plus-port-elizabeth-and-uitenhage-2021-2 |access-date=2021-02-24 |website=BusinessInsider}} is an airport serving East London, a city in the Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa.

The airport handles between 20 and 30 flights daily, which bring {{formatnum:946000}} people to East London each year. Of these, about {{formatnum:540000}} are holidaymakers, mostly local, and about 15% are foreign tourists. In 2013, the airport served 658,363 passengers. In 2016, King Phalo Airport was voted the fastest growing airport in South Africa, having accomplished an almost 19% increase in traffic over a 12-month-period.{{Cite news|url=http://www.anna.aero/2017/01/30/east-london-fastest-growing-airport-south-africa/|title=East London is fastest growing airport in South Africa in 2016|date=30 January 2017|work=anna.aero|access-date=2018-08-24|language=en-GB}} The airport welcomed over 806,000 passengers in 2016, beating the 679,000 that passed through East London in 2015. The second best performing airport for growth in 2014 was Kimberley, with its traffic growing by 11%. Overall the top airports of South Africa witnessed nearly 39.7 million passengers in 2016, up 5.3% on the year before.