Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit
Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit
Air Force Base Hoedspruit (IATA: HDS, ICAO: FAHS) is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is located adjacent to the Kruger National Park. In the late 1990s an unused portion of the base was converted into a civilian airport known as Eastgate Airport. It was also an emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle.
Location
24.362°S, 31.053°E · 549 m s. n. m. (1.801 ft)
General data
Runways · 2
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
Radio frequencies · 2
Tower
Approach
Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.
History
The base was officially opened on 1 July 1978. It was designed from the start to be a highly protected wartime base. As such, it has armoured and Hardened Aircraft Shelters, with revetments placed close to the runways for aircraft on immediate take-off standby duty.
The base is teeming with wildlife, being surrounded by the 25 km2 AFB Hoedspruit Game Reserve. Keeping the runway clear of animals was a massive problem. This led the base to introduce three cheetahs on the airfield, with the end result that animal incursions onto the runway have decreased by 90%. Another SAAF base, AFB Makhado, has since also adopted this concept.
The base gained international media attention in 2000, when it hosted the United States Air Force's rescue contingent as part of Operation Atlas Response, the mission to provide rescue and humanitarian support to areas of Mozambique devastated by the severe flooding caused by Cyclone Eline.
The base motto is Pro Nostrorum Pace (Peace for our People).
Airlines operating here · 3
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: Public domain · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS). Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS
MLA
“Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS (Accessed: 24 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_hds,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS}},
urldate = {2026-10-24},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-24}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/HDS |title=Eastgate Airport / Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-24 |language=en}}